


A Lost Song and a New Life

by Narutofoxlover, Silvererros



Category: Sean McLoughlin - Fandom, jacksepticeye, mark fischbach - Fandom, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Chica hates Jack at first, Hand Jobs, Human Mark, Jack is an innocent boy when it comes to sex, M/M, Masturbation, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prepare for Little Mermaid Jokes, Scars, Septiplier - Freeform, Sex between a human and a merman, She'll warm up eventually though, Siren Jack, Slow Burn, soul mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 11:49:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 57,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15971714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narutofoxlover/pseuds/Narutofoxlover, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvererros/pseuds/Silvererros
Summary: A lone siren named Jack washes up onshore in LA after being banished by his pod and must learn to live with humans. A kind human named Mark takes him in and a friendship quickly grows, soon blossoming into something more.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this is adapted from a roleplay that started early last year, so the early chapters might not be as well written as later chapters. I wrote everything for Jack and my co-author Silvererros wrote everything for Mark and Chica. Silver also wrote for the waitress in this chapter. I'll try to post at least one chapter every week. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Jack grimaced as he started to come to, his head pounding from where it had smacked against some rock when the current got him. Bad storms tended to cause freakishly strong underwater currents and he had gotten caught up in one.  
  
Wait, why did it feel like he wasn't underwater? He opened his eyes and sat up in surprise when he saw that he was on a currently deserted beach. He must have washed ashore. His eyes widened when he looked down at his tail, only to find it was gone! Instead he had a pair of legs. He could turn into a human? He knew some merfolk could when on land, but he hadn't known he could.  
  
Hmm, maybe he could use this to his advantage. A lone merperson was as good as dead on their own, but on land he might be okay. He just had to find some clothes first. Humans tended not to run around naked, from what he had seen. Maybe those changing rooms would have some left behind clothes?  
  
He unsteadily got to his feet, having to move slowly at first till he got a better handle on walking. He ended up finding a long sleeved blue t-shirt, some torn black jeans, a black zip-up jacket with a hood, some black sneakers and surprisingly a navy blue leather choker. It had a metal plate on it with three music notes stamped in. Convenient since people would ask unwanted questions if they saw the scar on his neck.  


  
~A few weeks later~  


  
Jack sat beneath the boardwalk, looking out at the water through the support beams. He had been living on land for a while and unfortunately wasn't doing very well. He lacked any of the required skills to get a job and had nowhere to live. At least he could still sing whenever he was feeling down, though sadly he still couldn't use his siren magic.  
  
He hummed softly for a moment before he started singing to himself, something he had heard someone listen to. He thinks it was called “Lived a Lie” by You Me At 6 but he wasn't sure. His eyes flickered green for a moment as he sang, showing that his magic wanted to come out, it just wasn't able to.  
  
"C'mon Chica!" Mark jogged down onto the beach, his golden retriever Chica not far behind him as her leash dragged on the ground beside her. "That's a good girl, c'mon!" Mark turned to face her just as he tripped in the loose sand and fell backwards, plopping down with arm and legs splayed out. He chuckled slightly before closing his eyes and pretending to play dead.  
  
Chica made to run like she was being chased by him but stopped to make sure he was following her. When Mark didn't get up, she tilted her head and trotted back over to him, sniffing at his face and putting a paw on his chest. "HAH!" Mark sat up quickly and opened his eyes, ruffling her fur, making her hop back with her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she bounced around playfully.  
  
He chuckled and stood back up, walking behind her as they traveled down the beach, watching the sun set over the water. It was nice, coming down to the beach during their runs and just letting her dig around, have fun. They didn't get to do it too often, but Mark figured it'd be a nice change of pace for them both.  
  
As they wandered closer to the boardwalk, Mark paused where he stood. He thought he'd heard a voice on the breeze. As he stood there, he heard it again and started walking towards the support beams under the boardwalk, following the sound.  
  
The closer he came to them, the more he recognized a figure sitting within the small forest of wooden beams. He walked towards the figure quietly, not wanting to interrupt. He leaned against one of the supports, just listening to him sing.  
  
Jack's eyes closed as he sang, just letting the words flow out of him. It wasn't hard for him to get lost in the song.

 

"’Well somebody told me, that I would be a dreamer for life, somebody told me that I would never reach the other side. Well you seem old news, but cross your fingers I'm yours to lose. What if i told you, that things will never improve. And if I lived a lie, would someone meet me on the other side, so I can burn on bright. So I can burn, so I can burn. The grass is always greener. Someone else's past is always cleaner, but I'm a believer, that there's a fool in all of us. And if I lived a lie, would someone meet me on the other side, so I can burn on bright. Oh I don't really know where our ghosts go, oh I don't really know where our ghosts go so live a lie just tonight, tonight. We are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers, we are believers. We are, we are. If I lived a lie, would someone meet me on the other side, so I can burn on bright. And if I lived a lie, would someone meet me on the other side, so I can burn on bright. Oh I don't really know where our ghosts go, no I don't really know where our ghosts go so live a lie just tonight, tonight and burn on bright.’" His eyes opened again as he finished singing. The song kinda struck home a little.  
  
"You have a wonderful voice," Mark finally spoke up after a moment of silence.

Chica hung back behind him, unsure of this stranger they'd approached.  
  
Jack visibly jumped when he spoke up, startled. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw it was just a guy and his dog. "Heh, I didn't even realize anyone was listening. I'm not used to having an audience," he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Well, an audience that wasn't in a trance because of his magic.  
  
"Sorry for startling you," Mark chuckled slightly, "I just didn't want to interrupt."  
  
Chica pawed at his leg. This didn't feel right. That person didn't feel right.  
  
"It's fine," Jack said. He glanced at Chica, noticing how nervous she was. He was pretty sure she was acting that way because she could tell he wasn't human. Animals were pretty perceptive to that kind of thing.  
  
"Calm down, Chica," Mark ruffled the fur on her head, glancing around. "I don't think I've ever seen you, before. Are you from around here?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, I'm from Ireland. I just got here a few weeks ago," He answered. Technically he wasn't lying, his pod lived in an underwater cave beneath a cliff of one of the smaller, uninhabited islands close to Ireland.  
  
"You're a long way from home," Mark walked over to him and knelt down. "So what are you doing under the boardwalk? Most tourists are usually on it at this hour," he said, making mention of the quickly growing darkness now that the sun had set.  
  
Chica whimpered and grabbed at his shirt with her teeth, tugging at it.  
  
"I pretty much live under here. I lost everything before coming to this country, I have no money and I've had zero luck getting a job. So I'm homeless. I wish I had somewhere to stay but I know that's not gonna happen and i don't trust homeless shelters," Jack explained, somewhat reluctant to admit that he was doing so poorly. Unknown to him, his eyes had lit up bright green with his magic when he mentioned he wished that he had a place to stay, unwittingly exerting his will on Mark.  
  
Chica growled at Jack when she saw the glow in his eyes, sensing something was off.  
  
Mark felt a sudden urge to bring him home pass over him as he spoke. What could it hurt? "You could come stay with me," he suggested quickly. "I mean, my house is pretty big. I have plenty of room."  
  
The green in Jack's eyes flickered and disappeared when Chica started growling at him. He scooted back a bit, not wanting to be too close to her. "Really?! Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother and I don't think your dog likes me very much," He said in surprise, glancing at Chica nervously. She could prove to be a problem if he did stay with Mark. He really didn't want to end up being her tuna dinner if he accidentally did something to piss her off.  
  
"Chica, what's the matter?" Mark pulled Chica close, rubbing her side to calm her. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what's gotten into her all of a sudden. Anyway, of course I'm sure! You need a place to stay, I have the room. Chica's probably just a little shy, is all. I don't mind helping you out...and it just occurred to me that I don't even know your name." Mark smiled and offered him his hand, "My name's Mark."  
  
"Well, if you're sure, I guess I wouldn't mind staying with you. Maybe she'll like me better once to know each other more. And It's nice to meet ya Mark. I'm Sean, but everyone calls me Jack so you can just call me that if you want," Jack said, taking Mark's hand. Hopefully Chica would calm down around him once she realized he wasn't going to hurt Mark.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Jack." Mark answered with a grin, "How about we get out from under the boardwalk and get some food in you? If you've been basically living under here, you probably haven't had a decent meal since you left home, right?"  
  
Jack's face practically lit up at the mention of food. "Fuck yeah! I'm starving! No more garbage food for me," he said excitedly, bouncing up and down a little. He scrambled to his feet, eager to get going.  
  
Mark chuckled and stood, grabbing Chica's leash. "Follow me, my car's not far. Anything you're in the mood for?"  
  
Jack shook his head. "At the moment, I don't really care what we get as long as its edible," He said.  
  
Mark chuckled again. "We'll have to eat somewhere I can have Chica with us..." He looked down in thought for a second and snapped his fingers. "I know a great place."  
  
Chica whined. She really didn't like this idea. Something wasn't right about this new person. He didn't seem human like her papa.

  
  
Mark drove Jack into the city, taking him to a bar and grill that had tables outside they could sit at. Chica laid under Mark's chair, whimpering and staring up at Jack.  
  
Jack glanced at Chica as he sat down. If they were going to be living together he might as well at least try to make friends with her. He held his hand out for her to sniff, he had heard letting an animal get used to your scent was the best way to start getting it to trust you. "Easy there girl. I'm not gonna cause you or Mark any trouble. I promise," He said, putting on a soothing tone.  
  
Chica hesitantly sniffed at his hand and growled a little.  
  
"Chica," Mark reached down and pat her head, "Calm down." He turned back to Jack, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry, she's not usually like this. Usually if she's nervous around someone, she just hides behind me. I'm not sure what's up with her, tonight."  
  
Jack sighed, pulling his hand away. "It's probably me. Pets just don't like me all that much, never have. Which is a shame cause I've always wanted a dog," he said. He hadn't seen them much back when he lived in the ocean - people didn't take them out on boats much - but he was always fond of them.  
  
"Well, don't worry. Maybe we can figure out why and work on it. Depending on how long you end up staying, of course." Mark ruffled the fur on Chica's head and smiled politely as a waitress walked up to them. 

He already knew why, but of course he couldn't tell Mark about it. "Maybe," he said as the waitress walked up.

"Hi there, my name's Anna! I'll be your server today." She handed each of them a menu and took out her small notepad and pencil, "Can I start you off with some drinks?"  
  
Mark nodded, "Yeah, I'll have a Pepsi."  
  
"Mmk," She wrote it down on her notepad and looked to Jack, "And how about you?"  
  
Drinks? He hadn't actually had anything besides water. Though he had seen plenty of empty bottles and stuff. He was just gonna go with a random one he had seen and hope he would end up liking it.  
  
"Uh, Root Beer? I'm fine with water though if you don't have any," Jack said, a slightly nervous tone creeping into his voice. People would probably find it odd if they knew how little experience he had with things that would be common to them, hence the nervousness.  
  
"Alright, Pepsi and a Root Beer," she repeated as she wrote it down. "I'll give guys a few minutes to figure out your orders!" She smiled and walked away, heading off to get their drinks.  
  
"So, have you ever been to the states before this? Or is this your first time?" Mark asked, picking up his menu. Might as well get to know his new roommate.  
  
"First time. I've never really gone all that far from home. My family needed me to help take care of them so I never had the chance to," Jack said. He glanced through the menu, trying to decide what he wanted. Ooh, chicken tenders with steak fries sounded good, he had seen people eating those at the boardwalk. Due to his pod's vicinity to humans, they knew how to read and speak in the human language quite well. Well, in English and Irish anyway.  
  
"Do you have a big family?" Mark asked. It seemed like that might be the case if he had to stay back to help take care of them. He had another question, though, that he wanted to ask, but he'd wait a bit first.  
  
"Yeah, pretty big. It was kinda hard to have any time alone sometimes because of how many of us there were," Jack answered. Besides his actual family his pod had had thirty-five people in it. Probably one of the largest pods of merfolk. Because of how many of them there were they had multiple sirens, hence why getting rid of him wasn't such a big deal.  
  
Mark set his menu down to focus on what Jack was telling him. "So what made you want to leave, then?"  
  
Jack stiffened, clearly a nerve had been struck. "I didn't. I got hurt and t-they couldn't afford to take care of me while I got better. They l-left me," he eventually said, his voice wavering as he wiped at his eyes, trying to keep from crying. Even though it had been months since it happened, it still hurt to talk about, even in an altered way since he couldn't exactly tell him the truth. It was the pod that abandoned him, not his family.  
  
"What? Why would they do that?" Mark couldn't understand why someone's family would just leave them behind. He felt so bad for him. Was this why he was homeless? Mark reached across the table, gently placing his hand on one of Jack's wrists. "I'm... so sorry that they would just leave you behind. You didn't deserve that."  
  
"It's... complicated. As much as it hurts, I've accepted it at this point.But it's nice to know someone cares, thank you." It was surprising just how nice Mark was. He was used to dealing with humans who only cared about themselves.  
  
Mark smiled at him. "Someone should." 

A small smile graced Jack's face. If Mark was like this all time, he was really gonna enjoy living with him.

Just as they finished talking, their waitress came back with their drinks and set them on the table. "Have we figured out what we're having, tonight?"  
  
Jack nodded in response to the waitress when she returned, thanking her for his drink. "You wanna order first Mark or can I go ahead?" He asked.  
  
Mark nodded, "Go ahead. I don't mind."  
  
Chica didn't like any of this. She had her eyes pinned on Jack, just in case he made a move to hurt her master.  
  
"Alright then. Can I have the chicken tenders with an order of steak fries please?" Jack asked. He tried not to pay Chica any mind, she was just gonna have to learn to tolerate him. Hopefully she would mellow out after a few weeks.  
  
"Alright," she wrote down Jack's order and turned to Mark, "And for you?"  
  
"Yes, I'll have your chicken and dumplings, please," Mark smiled up at her.  
  
"No problem! I'll have them out to you as soon as they're ready." She took their menus and ran back to the kitchen to put in their order.  
  
"So, um, anything else you wanna know? I figure it's only fair that you ask me a few things since you're being nice enough to let a total stranger live with you," Jack said. He fiddled with his choker a bit, he had noticed that it was getting off center so the decorative metal plate on it with the music notes stamped on had ended up on the side of his neck rather than the front.  
  
"Well, I know you're from Ireland and that you're a great singer." Mark smiled at him, "You've been here for a few weeks, your first time here, but I'm very sure you haven't seen much since you've been living under the boardwalk. You have a big family..." Mark tapped his chin as he thought of other questions. He noticed Jack fiddling with his choker. "And that you like wearing chokers?" He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed it earlier.  
  
"Well, this is the only one I have but I guess I do. Though, i don't really wear it for fashion. It's kinda personal," He said. He wasn't really comfortable enough with Mark just yet to talk about his scar. Not even with a cover story.  
  
That little tidbit did make Mark curious. "Well, we are still getting to know each other," he shrugged, "You don't have to tell me why, if you don't want to." He smiled at him and leaned down to pet Chica who seemed to have settled down a little. "It's your first time to the US, so tell me. What are you most excited to see, here? I can always show you around, help you find a job."  
  
Jack was glad he had dropped the subject so easily. "I'm not sure, anything and everything I guess. I really only know about some of the more well known places. LA is the city with the big sign on the hill isn't it? I always thought that might be interesting to see," he said. Pretty much the only places he knew about were the major cities that are by the water. His pod had learned about those places through migratory pods that would visit sometimes.  
  
"Aaah, the Hollywood sign." Mark smiled at that, "That's usually what tourists wanna see when they come here. I know a great place we can go to get a good look at it, sometime. If you want to, that is, and whenever you're comfortable."  
  
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing it. Maybe after I've gotten settled in and know my way around a little. Right now though I just wanna have a decent meal for once, get cleaned up and have a good night's sleep," Jack said. He hadn't been in the water since washing ashore for fear that someone might see, so he needed a bath.  
  
"No problem, at all. We'll eat, get home, and you can wash up while I set up your bed." Mark sat up as their food was brought over and thanked the waitress.  
  
"I'll, uh, have to borrow some clothes by the way. What I'm wearing is all I have," Jack said before thanking the waitress as well. The smell of the food made his mouth water a little. It smelled delicious!  
  
"Yeah, sure! I don't mind. You can borrow some of mine and we'll get you some clothes later." Mark smiled and took a big bite of his dumplings. "Mmm~"  
  
"Thanks." Mark's clothes would probably be a bit big on him but they would be okay till he had more clothes of his own. He popped a steak fry in his mouth and his face lit up. It was so good! Humans may not always be the nicest species but their food was amazing! He should have tried being on land sooner, this was way better than the stuff merpeople typically eat. He quickly dug into his food, relishing every morsel.  
  
Mark stifled a chuckle. He really was hungry, damn. "You make those look like the best fries you've ever had." He was already thinking of places to take him to get Jack his own clothes, maybe a pair of shoes since the pair he was wearing looked like they were in terrible shape. He definitely wanted to cook some meals for him. Poor boy would have barely eaten over the past few weeks.  
  
Jack smiled sheepishly. "Heh, I guess not eating a whole lot for a while makes everything taste way better." Maybe not the best, but certainly the first fries he's ever had. He was definitely looking forward to trying other human foods now.  
  
"Well, if you want more, just let me know." Mark smiled enjoying his own food, "We can order another meal to go, or something."  
  
Jack shook his head. "No, this should be fine. Probably not a good idea to eat too much at once, got to get used to eating properly again."  


  
After they were done eating Mark drove them back home. Jack looked at Mark's house with wide eyes as he went inside behind him. He was not expecting him to have such a nice place. Living here would definitely be worth putting up with Chica. Well, as long as she didn't attack him.  
  
Mark let Chica loose in the house, where she immediately ran to her bowls in the kitchen to eat. "So, welcome to my humble abode~" he bowed dramatically, "Make yourself comfortable. If you need a drink at any time, the kitchen's where Chica just ran off to. The bathroom's the first door on the left at the top of the stairs." Mark kicked off his shoes by the door and hung his keys up on a hook on the wall. "Feel free to go take a bath, I'll get the guest room ready."  
  
Jack glanced around a bit, taking in what Mark said. "A bath would be amazing right now. I think I will go have one," he replied. He went up the stairs and entered the bathroom. Huh, a walk-in shower and a huge bathtub. That's pretty nice.  
  
He glanced at the doorknob and was pleased to see a lock. He was definitely gonna take a bath and not a shower then. Judging from the size of the tub, he'd probably change into his true self if he filled it up at least halfway. He locked the door before he started getting undressed.  
  
While Jack took the opportunity to clean up, Mark grabbed a comforter and an extra pillow from the hallway closet, taking them into the guest room. He made the bed and pulled the blankets and sheets back. That way Jack could just slip straight into bed when he was finished. The poor guy had had a terrible first few weeks in the country. If Mark could help it, he was going to make up for it somehow.  
  
As Jack finished getting undressed, something shown in the mirror caught his eye. He glanced at it and could see it was showing his back. Three long, ragged scars ran at a slant across his skin. It was easy to tell from the color that they were freshly healed. So that was why his back had been so sore. He must have got them during the storm.  
  
Well, at least those would be easier to explain away. He walked over and turned on the tub faucet, checking for the water to get to a decent temperature before stopping up the drain. After it had filled up to where he wanted it to, he slipped in with a sigh, the warm water soothing his sore muscles.  
  
Mark finished setting up Jack's room and walked over to his own. Jack would probably be in there for a while, so no point in bothering him.  


  
After a while, he went up to the bathroom door and knocked on it lightly. "Hey, I don't mean to seem weird, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay in there."  
  
Jack jumped a bit, startled, the water splashing a little. He had accidentally started to nod off. "Yeah, I'm fine. Heh, just kinda fell asleep for a minute there," he answered.  
  
He ran his hand through his hair, moving his bright green bangs out of his eyes as he glanced at his tail. The mostly sapphire scales gleamed in the light. He had missed being himself, pretending to be human all the time got tiresome. Unfortunately bathing would probably be the only time he could go back to being in his merman form.  
  
Well that was a dangerous thing to do. He must be exhausted. "Maybe you should finish up and get some sleep. Wouldn't want you to drown in the tub." Mark thought it over and realized Jack might need some clean clothes to put on. "I'll grab you some pj's."  
  
Mark walked off to his bedroom and searched through his dresser drawers. Might as well grab him some clothes to wear for tomorrow. He figured they'd go out and get him his own tomorrow so he wouldn't feel like his clothes were falling off all the time.  
  
He pulled out a pair of jeans and pajama pants, and then got into his closet for a plain white tee. He could sleep in that and wear whatever other tee he'd grabbed tomorrow. Just in case, he also grabbed a belt and a pair of boxers. That was going to be a weird thought, he was sure, but Mark wasn't going to make Jack go commando in a pair of possibly loose fitting jeans.  
  
He took the two stacks of clothes with him, setting the clothes for tomorrow on the small dresser in the guest room and taking the other stack to the bathroom. He knocked again, "I brought some pajamas and a pair of boxers for you. They're on the floor right outside the door when you're ready." Mark set them down and headed back to his room.  
  
Him, drown? Now that was a funny thought. Still, Mark had point. Jack finished washing up and opened the drain. About two minutes after the tub had fully emptied, his features changed back into human ones, his tail splitting and turning into legs. He had to admit, it was a strange thing to see. He wiggled his toes a bit to help get the feeling back in them before climbing out of the tub.  
  
He dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist, going to the door and opening it to grab the clothes Mark had left. As expected, they were a little loose when Jack put them on, some of his shoulder slipping through the neck hole of the shirt and the pajama pants and boxers sitting low on his hips.  
  
Jack put his dirty clothes in the hamper before grabbing his choker and leaving the bathroom. He slipped quietly into the guest bedroom, flopping onto the bed with a content sigh. So much better than sleeping under the boardwalk.  
  
Mark heard his guest leave the bathroom and smiled slightly. "Well," he checked the time, "I guess it's time to get some sleep Chica. I gotta take Jack out tomorrow to get him some clothes." He turned off his computer and moved over to his bed, sitting on the edge.  
  
Chica looked up at him and whined. She really did not like that strange creature in their house. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew it wasn't human.  
  
"It's alright, Chica-bica," Mark ruffled her fur, rubbing her ears, "I know he's new, but someone has to help him get on his feet. Besides, I like the company." He kissed her head and pointed her to her bed, where she curled up with her head facing the door. He plopped back on his own and got comfortable.  
  
Jack crawled under the covers, making himself comfortable. Yeah, he could definitely get used to this, as long as nothing went wrong that is. After a couple minutes he eventually fell asleep, his mouth open slightly and a peaceful expression on his face. A good end to a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Fixed the links hopefully
> 
> Links:
> 
> [Reference for Jack's siren features](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/post/165908642301/ref-for-sirenjacks-tail-and-arm-fins-decided)  
> [Fan Art made by my co-author Silvererros](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/175294391058/a-sirens-kiss-with-and-without-glow-just)  
> (( not entirely accurate but very close. It's missing his dorsal fin, the tailfin shape and the amount of green on the tailfin is different and instead of those fins on his sides he has hidden slits that act as pockets. Fan art is encouraged by the way.))
> 
> [Reference for Jack's tailfin shape](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/159595842823/more-fanfiction-fanart-i-keep-running-into)  
> (( this is a drawing Silver did for an older story of mine where Jack got turned into a merman due to a lab accident. It's on my Deviantart but I can bring it over here if anyone is interested. ))
> 
> [Reference for Jack's genitalia in merman form](http://silvererros18andover.tumblr.com/post/174135603375/its-mermay-bring-on-the-lovin-dark-and-jack)  
> (( this drawing isn't of my Jack, it's purely Silver's work, but it is a good reference for my Siren Jack's genitalia in merman form. His dick is similar to a dolphin's but longer as can be seen in the drawing. Unlike the drawing though his genitalia is a little higher up and there isn't as much space between the the slit that holds his dick and the slit that is the entrance to his womb. Those two slits are hidden by his scales unless he is aroused. Yes, he has both male and female genitalia despite being a guy ((reproductive organs anyway, he doesn't have breasts)), that will be explained later in the story.))
> 
> [Spotify Playlist for this story](https://open.spotify.com/user/8q0elo21l6iicpg6uq4vhr9nd/playlist/6YzyDiC867sxq9uGuMEfPp?si=JallrKXUTrOcGCclrWC-Vw)  
> (( Yes, I am making one and it will get bigger as the story goes. The songs in the playlist will either be sung in the story or I feel they fit the story. Some of the songs will get explanations later. You are welcome to recommend me songs that you think fit the story, I may add them if I agree with you. ))
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gameplay moments Jack has in this chapter are based on actual videos Jack has done of those games. I wrote him playing those games as I watched the videos they are based on. Because I don't like summarizing the gameplay, chapters like this wear Jack plays a game will probably be longer than most of the other chapters. Once again, I write for Jack and my co-author Silver writes for Mark and Chica.

Mark woke up early the next morning and hopped out of bed, getting dressed and heading downstairs with Chica in tow. "C'mon on Chica!" First things first, he needed to let her out to go potty, so he slid the sliding door open that led to a small fenced in backyard. He didn't need to worry about her getting in the pool since that usually took some coaxing anyway. While Chica ran and did her business, he immediately set to work getting some coffee brewing and grabbing out food for breakfast. "Let's see, I've got what I need for bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. I've got to get groceries, though." Mark set to work cooking breakfast, humming a tune to himself.

Jack sat up in bed as he woke up, raising his arms above his head to stretch before rubbing at his eyes. He smiled, he hadn't slept that good in a while. He glanced around till he saw the clothes Mark had left on the dresser, getting up and taking off his pajamas before putting the clothes on. The belt was a little annoying to fiddle with but he eventually got it on right. Though the belt kept the pants up, the shirt still hung a little loose, showing off his collarbone and some of his shoulder. Oh well, not much he could do about that. He briefly ran his fingers over the scar on his neck before putting his choker on. As he came down the stairs he was greeted by the smell of coffee and the food Mark was cooking.

Mark glanced up from his pan when he heard Jack coming down the stairs. "Hey, good morning!" he called to him from the kitchen. He set the spatula down and put a lid on the pan to let the last of the bacon cook. He walked over to the living room to greet Jack at the stairs, "You have good timing. I'm finishing up some bacon for breakfast sandwiches."

"Morning. Breakfast smells great, I can't wait to have some," Jack said as he finished coming down the stairs.

Mark took note of how his clothes fit on Jack. It was to be expected, really, that they wouldn't fit him properly. Mark was built a little broader than Jack was. The little bit of shoulder peeking out was... kind of cute though. "We are definitely getting you clothes today."

He glanced at himself when Mark mentioned getting clothes. "Yeah, probably a good idea. These aren't exactly form fitting." Though he didn't mind the loose fit all that much, he was just glad to be wearing something clean for once.

"Well, luckily enough, I need to go out and get groceries today, anyway. So after we eat, we'll head out and do some shopping." He smiled and waved for Jack to follow, "Come on, kitchen's this way." Mark lead him back to the kitchen and checked to make sure he hadn't burned the bacon in the pan.

"Sounds fun, " Jack said, following after him. As he followed him, he glanced at the sliding glass door that led to the backyard and noticed the pool. He visibly paled at the sight. He'd have to be careful whenever he went out there, if he fell in his secret would be blown.

Mark turned off the heat and put the last of the bacon on a plate with the rest. He took it over to the table where he'd covered a plate of hard-fried eggs and had the packet of cheese slices already waiting. "I don't know if you like mayo or jam on yours, so I didn't get them out. If you want either though, I can get them." He brought the bread and two glasses over to the table. "Water or juice?"

"I'm good. And water's fine," Jack said, taking a seat at the table. He had to say, everything looked and smelled really good.

Mark nodded and took Jack's glass, filling it with water and setting it in front of him. He poured himself some juice and sat across from Jack at the table. It wasn't often he had someone over for breakfast. "Alright, feel free to dig in!" Mark opened the bread and put together his sandwich, grabbing an egg, a few pieces of bacon, and unwrapping a slice of cheese.

Jack grinned. "Don't have to tell me twice," He said before getting some bread as well. He got two slices of cheese as well as an egg and a couple strips of bacon, putting one slice of cheese on the bottom and the other on top. He took a sip from glass before biting into his sandwich. Seriously, why was human food so good? He was definitely putting more bacon on the next sandwich.

Mark ate a big bite of his sandwich. "So! Any preference in clothes?" he asked before taking another bite.

Jack shrugged. "I guess form fitting stuff, along with jackets and hoodies. Other than that I don't really have much of a preference. Just whatever looks decent on me," He answered. He didn't really know anything about fashion or anything like that so he was open to suggestions.

"Form fitting, huh?" Mark thought that over, "So skinny jeans will probably work for you. Definitely a smaller shirt size." he could imagine darker colored clothes would be best, but he'd leave that up to Jack at the store.

Jack nodded, taking another bite of his sandwich. He briefly pondered trying to learn how to cook so Mark wouldn't have to provide food all the time. It would definitely be a needed skill for if and when he ended up either living on his own or with someone else.

 

After they finished eating they headed to the store so they could get groceries and some new clothes for Jack.

"Alright," Mark handed him a few items of clothes they'd picked out and gestured to the changing room, "Go try those on and see what fits. If you need an opinion, I'm out here for ya." They'd found several different things, but Mark wasn't entirely sure about his sizes. He took some guesses just by looking at what pant size he thought would fit him, but only trying them on would actually tell them anything.

"Okay. I'll be out in a minute or two then," Jack said, taking the clothes and going into the changing room. As he tried things on, he was happy to find that everything fit. That made things a lot easier. And he liked what they had picked out. Though, what he was trying on currently he wasn't quite sure of. He stepped out to get Mark's opinion. He was wearing a fairly close fitting plain black t-shirt and some torn black skinny jeans. The clothing hugged every curve.

Mark waited for him, checking through stuff on his phone.

"I don't know, is this too much black?" Jack asked, stepping out to get Mark's opinion.

When Jack came out, he lifted his head and his eyes went wide. It wasn't so much the color that caught his attention but how it hugged his body. He hadn't even known Jack had such curves. "Oh wow... U-Uh, I think it looks great on you! I don't think it's too much. How does it feel? Comfortable? Too tight?"

"It feels fine. The shirt fits a little tighter than the other shirts did but I kinda like it like that," Jack answered. He was glad Mark thought it looked okay, he actually really liked this outfit. "Everything else fits good too," He added after a moment.

"That's good! I'm glad I guessed right." Mark was a bit distracted by Jack's hips. They were one of the most noticeable things about him in this outfit, and they weren't bad. "Well, let's get everything in the cart and go grab some groceries, then! Unless you want to grab some more clothes real quick."

Jack shook his head. "I think we grabbed enough. I'll go get changed then and bring everything out." He noticed Mark seemed kinda distracted. Why did he keep staring? He chose to ignore it for now, going back into the changing room and putting Mark's clothes back on. He picked up all the clothes and brought them out, putting them in the cart.

"Okay, on to groceries!" Mark grinned and lead him over to the food aisles. He brushed off his earlier feelings; he wasn't quite sure why Jack's hips had caught his attention so much, but they needed to grab food. He could figure those feelings out later. "Is there anything in particular that you like to eat back home? We could get some ingredients and take turns cooking."

"We mostly just ate a lot of seafood. I don't really know how to cook though. It was always my mom or my older sister that did the cooking." Technically that last part wasn't completely false, several of the females in Jack's pod, including his mom and sister, were tasked with tending to food.

"Oh?" Well that was no good. If Jack ever planned to live on his own at some point, he'd need to know how to cook. "Well... I could teach you, if you'd like. You really should know how."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind you teaching me." Jack was glad Mark was willing to teach him. Knowing how to cook was definitely a skill he needed if he was going to live on land.

Mark took them over to the meats and looked through the seafood. "We could make shrimp, there's lobster tails here, salmon, cod. I bet we could make some really good dinners, or lunches, with any of these. Do you have a favorite?" Mark was trying to be as accommodating as possible. He wanted Jack to feel comfortable and safe after going through almost a month of discomfort.

"I'm pretty fond of salmon and shrimp," He answered when Mark asked about his favorite sea food. Shrimp had been something his pod wasn't able to catch often so having them so readily available now was amazing.

"Alright," Mark smiled and grabbed a couple packages of shrimp and a pack of salmon. "Let's see, I've got a lot of different seasonings back home," He went through a mental checklist as he grabbed some ground beef and pork ribs, as well as some chicken. "Let's get some fresh produce while we're here, milk, juice, and eggs. And then we can head back."

Jack nodded, "Okay." He was quiet for a few moments before he had a thought. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your job? Shouldn't you be busy with that right now or is it a day off for you?" He asked.

"I'm actually a YouTuber," Mark smiled at him, "Since you didn't recognize me, you probably don't watch my stuff. I record videos of myself for a living. Usually of myself playing video games, sometimes I record skits, or I just record myself doing something silly. I will have to record when we get back, but otherwise a good portion of my day is pretty free."

Youtube...that was an internet thing wasn't it? "I've never even watched Youtube before. My family didn't own a computer or anything I could watch it on, didn't have video games either," He said. Jack figured it would be a good idea to explain his ignorance now rather than wait till later. He was curious though, he had seen people walking around playing handheld video games and they had looked like they were having fun.

"Never?" Mark was surprised to hear that. Computers and games were pretty much everywhere. Granted, he hadn't started with much as a kid, but still, he couldn't imagine his life without them.

"My parents were kinda old fashioned," Jack explained.

"Well, when we get back to the house, I'll introduce you. I think you'd really like them."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I've always wanted to try them out, people always look like they're really enjoying themselves."

"Trust me, they are. They're a lot of fun," Mark worked on gathering up the last of their groceries while they talked, "Some games are like playing through a story. Others give an adrenaline rush by scaring you. Some are just puzzles to solve. Sometimes, they're a combo of all three. I've got some really good ones you can try when we get back."

"Cool! I definitely can't wait to try then!" Jack said, getting excited.

 

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"Hello everybody! My name is Markiplier, and today is going to be a little bit different," Mark spoke to the camera, looking into the lens. When they'd gotten back, they'd put everything away and had a quick lunch before Mark took Jack to his recording room. "Today I'm joined by my friend, Jack. Say hi, Jack!" Mark glanced at Jack, who was sat right next to him.

"Hi!" Jack said, smiling and waving at the camera. He was a little nervous but he tried not to let it show. He was still surprised Mark had wanted to make a video about introducing him to video games. Would people really care about seeing that? Still, it seemed like it would be something fun to do, and it was cool that Mark wanted to include him.

"Jack here is visiting from Ireland, and HE... has never played video games before. He's never even used a computer, so this is all very new to him," Matk gestured at everything in front of him. "My aim today is to introduce him to gaming. I have a few games in mind to sort of give him a good MIX, if you will, of the various types of games out there. So first up, we're starting simple. Puzzle games."

Mark switched up a few things on his computer to show the first game on the screen. "So first up is... Happy Wheels." He looked at Jack, "So this is a website where people can make various strange puzzles for others to try. The whole point is to get through the puzzles without coming to a stop too early... and preferably, you don't want your character to die." He picked out a simple one to start. "Each one shows you the controls at the start. So this one needs your arrow keys and space bar." He showed him the keys and removed his hands from the keyboard. "Give it a shot."

Jack nodded before moving closer to the computer so he had better access to the keyboard. He looked at the screen and said, "So the objective is to get the lady to the bottom without dying right? Seems simple enough." Okay, from the looks of it he just had to use the arrow keys to determine which direction the character moved and hit space to make them jump.

"Alright Betty, here we go!" He said, randomly coming up with the name on the spot as he pressed the left arrow key and hit the spacebar. Turned out it wasn't as simple as he thought. Betty didn't get even halfway down before splatting into the spikes, her bottom half separating and dangling by an intestine. Jack made a disgusted face. "Holy balls! Betty! Your body is not supposed to do that! This is awesome!"

Mark laughed at his reaction and grinned at the camera. "I told you that you'd like it! C'mon, go again, go again. You're bound to get her down there eventually."

Jack grinned before clicking the retry level button. "C'mon Betty, we can do this!" He said. She fell about a third of the way before failing yet again. "You fat bitch! Why did you have to get your ass stuck on a spike?! Okay, I'm trying a different guy this time." He picked a different character and started the level again. "Oh! I'm gonna call you Segway Steve! Ready for the spike fall buddy? When in doubt, Segway Steve!" He said before sending Steve over the edge. Steve hit the finish line with a loud splat, the victory sound playing. "Yes! I did it! Way to go Steve!"

"There ya go!" Mark cheered. God, Jack's reactions to this were hilarious. "Alright, so I think you get the idea of Happy Wheels. Let's try a different level. How about a bottle run?"

"No idea what that is but sure!" Jack said. He had only been playing for a few minutes but it was safe to say that he was hooked. He definitely wanted to play video games more.

Mark clicked away, having him play various different types of levels. Jack had some hilarious banter. Mark was sure he almost choked on his own saliva a couple times. He seemed to enjoy most of it. "It just hit me, you haven't played a level with harpoons yet," he said looking through the various levels.

The bright smile on Jack's face fell when Mark mentioned harpoons. "Harpoons? They have harpoons in this game?" He asked, an anxious tone creeping into his voice. He had to keep himself from instinctively clutching at his neck due to the memories that word brought up. "Uh, you know, I don't have to play a level with harpoons in it. Why don't we move on to something else?"

Mark glanced at him. "Oh, alright." That seemed odd. Jack had been having fun a moment ago, but now he sounded... almost afraid. "So then, how about a scary game or story-based?"

Jack relaxed when Mark complied with him. "How bout story-based? Save the scares for last," He suggested. A story-based game could be a good way to relax for a bit after all the yelling he did at Happy Wheels. As long as he could avoid levels with harpoons, he'd probably play it again.

"Let's see... How about... Life Is Strange. It's story based, a bit calmer." Mark started up the game and handed him the controller. "This one uses a controller. It'll explain the controls for you as they pop up."

Jack nodded, holding on to the controller as the game started. Thunder crashed in the game as the camera closed in on an unconscious girl. "You alive? Hellooo, wakey wakey." The girl in the game woke up, getting to her feet and questioning where she was and what was going on. "Good question, you should not be lying in the middle of the woods during a thunderstorm." The girl continued talking to herself before pointing out a lighthouse. He was able to control her now. "Okay so what do I use to make her move?"

"Use the joysticks, here." Mark moved one to show how it moved just her head to look around, the other to actually walk. "Got it?"

"Got it." Jack started moving her towards the lighthouse and paused when he saw something through the trees. "Is that a tornado?! Holy shit! That thing is huge! This girl has to be dreaming or something cuz that is fuckin' nuts." When he got the girl up on the cliff the lighthouse was on, he stopped to look at the tornado again.

"Seriously, that thing is ginormous! Though it's actually a freaking water spout now that I can see more of it." When Jack got her to the edge of the cliff a cutscene triggered and a boat went flying into the lighthouse, the top of said lighthouse crashing down towards the girl. "Look out!" The screen blacked out just before the debris hit her and revealed the girl waking up in class. "I was right. It was a dream."

Mark chuckled at his reactions. Jack seemed to get really into whatever he was playing. "First impression?"

"It's pretty good so far. I'm curious how the rest of the game goes," Jack said. He was definitely enjoying himself, he hoped Mark would let him play again at some point.

"Do you want to play a little more or move onto scary games, ooOOoo?" Mark wiggled his fingers, playfully making spooky sounds.

Jack chuckled at Mark's antics. "I think I'm up for a few scares. Bring on the scary games!" He said.

Mark loaded up a game on the computer and let it sit in the menu while he explained. "So this is Five Nights At Freddie's. You can only use the mouse and keyboard for this one, and even with that, you're limited to how many keys. I would like to take the opportunity to mention that I am.. the King... of Five Nights At Freddie's," He gave him a goofy grin and wiggled his eyebrows a little, just because. "So if you need advice, ask away. But, to make this better, you need a headset," He handed him a set that was plugged in, "And a dark room." He got up briefly and turned off the light in the room.

"Alright then your Highness," Jack said jokingly. He read the newspaper clipping that showed on screen. "I'm working at a pizza place? How's that scary?" The screen said Night 1 and went black for a few moments before revealing a small office. "Oh? What's going on," He said. He had the character glance around briefly before bringing up the camera just as the phone started ringing.

"Phone's ringing. Someone gonna pick that up? What do I do exactly? Okay, that buttons for the door and that one's for the light." The phone in the game started playing a message. As the message droned on Jack responded to it now and then, continuing to look around the room and bring up the camera now and then. "Wait, these things come to life? That is not good, that is not nice. So the animals are coming to kill me? They're gonna come to life and try to make one too? Oh jeez, that's definitely not nice."

Jack paused when he heard something humming. "Who's singing?" He flipped through the cameras, trying to see if he could find anything. "Okay, everything's okay so far, but I'm guessing that's not gonna last long." He muttered to himself for a moments, reiterating to himself what everything did and what he needed to do.

Mark sat back and smiled, glancing at Jack's power levels as he flipped through things. It was only night one, the calmest night of the game. This was going to be good, he was sure of it.

"Seriously, who's singing?" Jack said, imitating the tune the voice was humming as he contued to flip through the cameras. "Nothin's changing so far. 'Kay, nothin's in here. This is a pretty cool idea though." He put down the camera and lit up the hallways. "Nothin' in the halls," He glanced at the power gauge, "I only have fifty four percent left, though I am at three a.m. Should be okay right?" He pulled up the cameras again.

"You guys movin'? 'Sorry out of order' what is that?" He muttered to himself again as he figured out how the map was laid out. "I don't want to keep using the camera though," Jack's eyes went wide when the cameras went black, "The cameras turned off!" He put the cameras down and checked the hallways again. "What is going on?" He brought up the cameras again. "One of them is gone!" He changed to the dinning room camera to find Bonnie. "Hi. No!" He said, his voice getting high pitched from from nervousness.

Mark chuckled at his reaction. He hadn't known Jack's voice could get that high. He tried to stay quiet, though. He wanted Jack to hear all the little sounds up until the scare.

"Now the creepiness begins." He went quiet for a moment. "Something's getting louder. You fuckin' stay there you bitch!" The cameras went black again and odd noises could be heard. He made a concerned face and looked at the dining room again. "Ah! He's gone!" He flipped to the backstage camera and Bonnie's face was right up in front of the camera. "Oh hi! I don't like this. I really don't like this." He continued flipping through the cameras. "There's no one there, okay. Ooohkay. Ooohkay. You're fine Jackie. You're good."

Something was in the dining area. "Hi!" He said nervously. "Aw there's two of them gone now! Where's your friend? Where'd that other guy go? Oh I lost him. Oh, now he's gone!" Jack brought down the cameras and lit up the hallway on the left. He yelled when the light revealed Bonnie in the doorway. "No! No! Get the fuck out!" He said, quickly closing the door. A nervous whine escaped him. "Do we have to keep them out? I mean, that's using a lot of power!" He pulled up the cameras again.

"Oh jeez. Oh jeez. Oohh jeez! Can't even see it on the camera." One of the animatronics hummed again. "Shut the fuck up ya bitch!" When Jack got to the dining area camera Bonnie could be seen. "Oh there ya are! Is that the one that was there?" He put the camera down to check the door. "Yeah. Okay. He's gone. I'm okay. Iiiii'm okay. I can hear pitter-patters," He said, pulling up the cameras again. Chica could be seen in the east hall. "Hi friend!" He said, his voice raising in pitch again. "'Let's eat'. Let's not!" He said after reading her bib.

Mark smiled at the camera. "This is the best," he chuckled. Jack was hilarious when he rambled during a game.

Jack checked the hallways again before returning to the cameras. "Eegh hi friendo. Buddy boy," He said nervously as he looked at Chica again. When he went to the dining area camera again he saw that Bonnie had gotten closer to the camera. "You're moving around again, can ya fucking stay there please. This is tense as shit." He put the cameras down and checked the hallways.

"Only have fucking twelve percent left. Can you change?" He said to the clock just a split second before it chimed and changed to six a.m. "Yes! Whoo I survived! One night down. Yay!" Jack said, putting his hands in the air. "Second night. Shit's about to get fucking real right now isn't it? This is a good game. I like this, this is really cool."

"Yeah, shit's about to get real. Night one is the easiest. Just wait till the other animatronics start moving," Mark answered him.

"There's more of them?! Jeez as if this wasn't unsettling enough with just two." As the night started Jack glanced at the phone. "You're not gonna ring again are ya?" A split second later it did. "Hi. Answer! Answer? There we go. Hi." He said to the phone before pulling up the cameras. His eyes went wide and his mouth formed a weird shape when he saw Chica standing in the dining area with a creepy look on her face. "They're moving already! I just started! The phone dude hasn't even shut up yet!" He called the phone guy a liar when he said he wasn't in danger.

The backstage camera freaked out, a Bonnie head flickering in and out of existence and words popping up on the screen. "'It's time'?! Is that what that just said? Uh oh. What's going on? How many do I have to be aware of? There's nobody in here, in the bathrooms. Oh god I'm wasting so much power. This is tense as shit. Right. I can do this. I can do this. Probably not. Probably gonna die in this stage. Almost died in the last one. I almost ran out of power. Oh no. Oh shit people are moving. Where are ya moving to? Someone's missing, shit," Jack said as he looked through the cameras.

He made note of Chica still being in the dining area before changing to the backstage camera, finding the previously missing Bonnie. "Oh there ya are. Good. Kay, so they're not getting any closer," He took a deep breath," Just ease into Jack, ease into it. You can do this. This is tense, I like this."

"Horror games might just be your thing, then," Mark smiled at him. "You seem to be really enjoying it."

"I mean, I liked all of them but yeah, I'm definitely into this," Jack said before returning his attention to the game. He heard some crashing in the game and quickly looked through the cameras. "What was that? Ahhh where'd he go? Oh no," He said when he saw Chica was no longer in the dining area. He quickly checked the hallways and found nothing. "Where'd he go?!" When he went to the backstage camera Bonnie had his face in the camera again.

"Oohh hi! Shit, shit, shit, shit I lost one, that guy moved. I lost one! Oh there he is. He's super close," He said, sighing in relief when he found Chica in the east hall. He flipped through the cameras again. "You're there, you're there. They're gone already! Aw balls. Aw ballsack," He said when he saw Bonnie had moved again. Jack checked the hallways by his office again. "Two a.m. and I'm nearly at fifty percent. Where did the fucker go?" He said, going through the cameras again. "Oh you're back in here. Oh thank god you're going backwards," He said when he found Bonnie back in the dining area.

"Such colorful language," Mark chuckled, "Ah, man. Hey, are you the kind of Irishman that comes up with really clever banter?"

"I've cursed how many times in the past half hour and you're only just now pointing it out? Anyway, I guess I am. Why?" Jack responded before returning his attention to the game. "These are creepy fuckers. Look at them," He said, pointing out Chica with the mouse.

"You cursed a lot, but a lot of it was pretty standard," Mark winked at him. "Oh yes, hi Chica! Long time no see. Don't wanna see."

"It's called Chica? You didn't name your dog after it did you? And if you want weird swearing, I said mother ape ass once." Jack flipped through the cameras quick. "There's nobody here right? Although they surprised me last time," He said, checking the halls again. He pulled the cameras back up. "You're still there, you're still there, and you still haven't shown up yet," He said, looking at Bonnie, Chica and Pirate's Cove.

"Okay I can survive this. Pirate's cove my ass. Ease into it. I'm good. I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. Yeah." He noticed Bonnue was gone. "Aw no. Aw no. Aw no, where'd you go? Oooohh you're right in the hall. Stay there please." He checked the halls. "Can't see you if I turn on the light. Stay there. You motherfuckers stay there. Please stay there. Three a.m. I've three hours left to go and I'm already under fifty percent." Jack said, imitating the animatronics tune again. He checked the halls, breathing quickly.

"Awww no. Oh shit! Oh shit!," He said when he saw Chica had moved. He quickly checked the halls again. "Oh shit! Oh she's right there!" He said upon checking the camera again. "She's right in the corner! Please, stay there bear. Four a.m. I got to-" Jack paused, a scared look on his face when he heard a weird sound. He checked the halls again but found nothing. "She's not here is she?" He shut the door just in case. "She's gone back okay, good," He said when he saw Chica had moved, opening up the door again.

"I did not name my Chica-pica after a chicken! Chica means girl in Spanish, and her previous owners had named her Sephora. Chica's much cuter than a chicken, aren't you girl?" Mark asked just as Chica came by the door. She barked in reply. "Good girl!"

"No need to get your bloomers in a twist, it was an innocent question. And I agree, way cuter than a chicken, especially this one," Jack said. He pulled up the cameras again. "No, no, no! Where did he go!" He said when he saw Bonnie had moved, checking the halls. "Oh! Hi! Oh, don't do it, don't do it, don't do it," He said when the camera showed Bonnie was in the hallway outside the office. He checked the hall again and closed the door for good measure.

"Don't be that guy. You're gone. Did you go back? Did you go backwards?" He said, seeing Bonnie had moved. He checked the dining area camera and saw nothing. "No you didn't. Where'd you go?!" He looked through the cameras and checked the hall, unable to find Bonnie. "I completely lost track of one of them. Oh, you're there," He said, finding Bonnie backstage.

"Bloomers?" Mark laughed, "Oh man, bloomers."

Chica pawed the door open a little and sat next to Mark, laying her head in his lap. That way, she could both protect her master and keep an eye on Jack in case he tried anything.

"Bloomers, you know, granny panties? The big ridiculous underwear old ladies use," Jack explained.

"I know what bloomers are," Mark chuckled.

He went back to looking through the cameras. "Did that bastard just move again? Yup, you're right in that hall again," he said, seeing Bonnie move in a hall. He glanced at the clock. "It's five a.m. I've got this. I've so got this, I can survive two nights. Fuckin, Five Nights At Freddy's. Yes, welcome to Jack's! This is how we do. Ten percent, oh balls." He checked the hallways by his office again.

"I hear movement, I hear movement!" He said, pulling the cameras back up. "Nnnoo you're moving!" He said when he saw Bonnie had moved. "Hahiii," he said, voice high pitched when he saw Bonnie in the supply closet and heard creepy, deep laughter. "Shit. Shit!" Jack checked the hallways again. The power was getting dangerously low. "Come on six a.m. You're still there, you're still there," He said, checking Bonnie and Chica. "Ah nooo you're back in a fuckin hole," He said when he saw Chica had moved.

"Three percent. Two percent! You got this Jack, you got this Jack. Just hope it dings. Just hope it dings! Come on." A weird, nervous sound escaped him as his power dropped to one percent. He looked at the cameras again. "He went back. Good. I got this. I got this. Ding, six a.m. please!" His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open when the power went out. Freddy's face flickered in the doorway. "No! No! Go away! Are you gonna get me?" A chime sounded and the clock changed to six a.m. "Yes! I did it! Two nights survived! Yay kiddies indeed! Jack is boss!" He cried, throwing his hands up in the air.

When Jack narrowly made it to 6am, Mark applauded him. "Damn, talk about cutting it close! You've still yet to die. That's pretty damn good." he grinned at him.

Chica huffed, displeased with Jack's success.

Jack smiled brightly. "Thanks! Not bad for a beginner, huh? Maybe your crown has a challenger," he said. He liked the rush he got from just barely surviving the night. He was definitely gonna play FNAF again.

Mark narrowed his eyes at him, barely containing the smile on his face. "Them's be fightin' words," he joked. "I won't go down easy." He honestly didn't mind the challenge. It might even get him into playing the game again.

"Well then, maybe next time we can play to see who can complete the third and fourth nights with the least amount of deaths? The person who dies the least takes the crown," Jack suggested. He glanced at the camera. "People who watch the video, say something if you want to see that. I wouldn't mind being in a video again."

"I wouldn't mind having you again. This has been really entertaining." Mark chuckled and looked at the camera, "But for now, that's all we've got time for. So put your opinion in the comments below. Would you like to see us compete? Want to see more of Jack? Tell us about it. Thanks everybody, so much, for watching and I will see you.. in the next video. Buh-bye!" He waved at the camera and stopped the recording.

Jack waved at the camera too as Mark ended the video. "I really had a lot of fun. Thanks for introducing me to video games and including me in the video," He said, a bright smile on his face. It was awesome that Mark got to do that for a living, just play video games and have fun.

"No problem! Video games are really fun, and I enjoy making videos. It just makes sense to put the two together. Maybe once we've got you settled, we can start your own channel, if you want. I could help get you started. Although editing can sometimes take a while," Mark offered.

"Really? That would be so cool! I'd love to have a channel!" Jack said excitedly, bouncing in his seat a little. That would be so fun! Maybe, if people liked him enough, it could even become a job like it did for Mark. Not only would it be fun but it was something he wouldn't need any particular skills to do. Well, other than editing but Mark could teach him that.

"Yeah, I don't mind helping out," Mark chuckled, "I'll help you get equipment even."

Chica huffed again. She didn't want Jack here. He wasn't natural. He didn't belong here.

Jack smiled. How on earth was he so lucky to have been found by this guy? Especially considering how bad his luck had been before. He paid no mind to Chica, he wasn't gonna let her ruin his good mood. "How many times am I gonna have to thank you? It's just one nice thing after the other with you. First you take me in, then you get me clothes, then you introduce me to video games and now this? At this rate I'm never gonna want to leave," He said jokingly.

Mark chuckled. "You really don't have to thank me. You're fun to talk to and you deserve better than you'd had. No one should have to live out on the streets in a strange country with no family, or friends."

"I do though. Not just anyone would take a stranger in and help them out as much as you have with me. I really can't express my appreciation enough," Jack replied.

"Really, don't worry about it. I just want to help you get on your feet. I would want someone to help me out. It's only right." Mark opened up the program he used to edit his videos, "Now, since you'll have your own account, you'll need to know how to edit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Links:
> 
>  
> 
> [Reference for Jack's siren features](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/post/165908642301/ref-for-sirenjacks-tail-and-arm-fins-decided)
> 
> [Fan Art made by my co-author Silvererros](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/175294391058/a-sirens-kiss-with-and-without-glow-just)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's tailfin shape](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/159595842823/more-fanfiction-fanart-i-keep-running-into)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's genitalia in merman form](http://silvererros18andover.tumblr.com/post/174135603375/its-mermay-bring-on-the-lovin-dark-and-jack)
> 
> [Spotify Playlist for this story](https://open.spotify.com/user/8q0elo21l6iicpg6uq4vhr9nd/playlist/6YzyDiC867sxq9uGuMEfPp?si=JallrKXUTrOcGCclrWC-Vw)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive how long this chapter is, it took a while to find a good place to end the chapter. Warning: This chapter contains a character experiencing a panic attack. If such things bother you, read at your own risk.

Jack slipped out of his pants and shirt, setting his choker on the nightstand. He had had a really good day today, the best one he's had in a long time. For the first time in forever, he was optimistic for what the future holds. While he would have to be a little careful with Happy Wheels, he was looking forward to playing games with Mark again. He crawled under his covers and soon fell asleep.

 

_-2 hours later-_

 

Jack grimaced in his sleep, tossing and turning as a nightmare plagued him.

_~Jack's eyes were wide in fear as a net surrounded him, trapping him. He reached into his pocket, grabbing the sharp shell he had been using as a makeshift knife and started sawing desperately at the ropes as the net started pulling upwards. He had cut a few when the top half of him finally breached the surface and he froze, staring at the men in the small boat._

_"He's a pretty one. Bet he'll fetch a much better price than the whales we've been hunting," one of the men said. When they reached out to try and drag him on board he bared his teeth in a snarl, the canines gone sharp as he brandished the shell defensively. They laughed and when one reached out again, he slashed at them. The man that had reached for him yelled and pulled his hand back, a bleeding cut on his arm._

_Due to his suddenly letting go, the others lost their grip on the net and Jack sunk back into the water. He went back to sawing at the ropes, knowing he might not be so lucky if they got him up again. Yes! The hole was finally big enough for him to slip through. He swam out of the net just in time as it started being pulled up again. He heard one of the men yell in frustration when they realized that there was nothing in the net._

_He had just started to swim away when an odd sound came from the boat and something zoomed into the water, heading right for him. He barely had time to dodge, a harpoon flying by him, only just missing his neck. Or so he thought. He cried out as a searing pain blossomed in a line along his throat and he could see crimson weaving through the water. He clutched at his neck and could feel a jagged cut.~_

Outside of the dream, Jack had started thrashing in his sleep, sharp cries coming from him. Everything in the nightmare was so vivid, it felt like his neck had gotten cut all over again. The thrashing caused him to get tangled up in his blankets, only making him struggle more.

Mark hadn't been asleep long when he was startled awake by Jack's cries.

Chica had hidden herself under Mark's desk, not sure what was going.

He threw his blankets off in a rush and darted out of bed. He ran down the hall to Jack's room, slamming the door open in his haste to see what was wrong. Jack was tangled up and screaming in his bed sheets, having some sort of night terror from what he could tell. "Whoa, whoa, Jack!" Mark sat on the edge of the bed beside him. He tried pulling Jack up into a sitting position, hugging him close with one arm while the other was busy untangling him from the blankets. "Shh, shh, you're okay! You're alright."

The feeling of being pulled close to Mark startled him awake. Still half asleep, Jack didn't recognize him. He just knew that he was trapped in something and a strange person was holding onto him. Panic set in, his breathing becoming quick and shallow as he struggled to get away from Mark. In his terrified state, it felt like he couldn't breathe, like he wasn't getting enough air. He wheezed, trying to catch his breath.

"No, no, it's just me! It's Mark!" It was difficult to pull the blankets off of him while he was thrashing around. He needed him to calm down, breathe easy. What was that thing he'd heard once? Mark took Jack's face in his hands and tried to make him look at him. "Jack, breathe. I need you to breathe."

Jack trembled, his eyes wide with fear. Everything kept replaying in his head, over and over. Nearly getting caught, his throat getting cut, his pod leaving him to die. It was overwhelming. Tears sprang up from his eyes, they had abandoned him when he needed them most, left him to fend for himself. Sobs mixed in with his wheezing breaths, the tremors running through him much stronger because of the sobs.

"Calm down, everything's okay." Mark wasn't sure what else to do. Maybe shocking him back into reality would help? What would work best, though? "Ugh... Jack, please forgive me." Mark counted to three in his head and pulled Jack's face to his own, kissing him on the lips.

Jack stiffened when he felt Mark's lips press against his, his breath stalling for a moment in shock. That seemed to be just what he needed because his breathing finally evened out again, the panic subsiding. However, tears still pricked his eyes and he broke off the kiss to bury his head against Mark's shoulder, clinging to him as he cried. Till now, he had never allowed himself to fully process what had happened with his pod. He still wasn't over it and he just needed someone to hold onto while he let out all his pent up emotions.

Thank goodness that had worked. Mark held him close, letting him cry while he rubbed his back. "It's okay. I'm here. Let it all out." Whatever nightmare he'd been having, it must have really hit him hard.

Eventually he stopped, all cried out. Jack leaned back and wiped the last stray tears from his eyes and sniffed. "I'm such an absolute mess. First a panic attack from the nightmare and then I break down crying? Heh, I must look like such a wimp," He said, chuckling, the sound having no humor in it. He had thought he was over this, and yet, here he was, having a complete breakdown in front of someone he had known for a little more than a day.

Mark rubbed his shoulders, trying to help comfort him. "You don't look like a wimp. It must have been a terrible nightmare." Mark frowned slightly when he noticed a line across Jack's neck. "What's this?" He asked, brushing his thumb along one end of the scar.

Jack jumped a little, startled when Mark ran his thumb over the jagged scar, his hand automatically flying up to it. "This is the reason why I wear that choker. And the reason my family left me," He said quietly. "One day, over a month ago, I was out getting some groceries when a couple a guys jumped me. Human traffickers I think. Whatever they wanted, I guess I proved to be too much trouble because they slit my throat and left me die. I honestly don't know how I didn't, or how I managed to get my voice back to the degree I did. I was... actually dreaming about when it happened," He eventually said, clearly having trouble talking about it.

Mark listened with wide eyes as Jack told him his story. It was awful... he'd been mugged and left to die by not only a couple of assholes, but his family as well. He could've died, bled out while abandoned on the street. Mark pulled him into a tight hug, his eyes shut. God, Jack had had such poor luck up till recently. "I'm so sorry... I had no idea it was that bad... You don't have to tell me any more, if you don't want to..."

"I don't know, maybe if I talk about it it won't bother me as much. Not much to say after that anyway." Jack heaved a sigh, "Once it was healed over and my voice started coming back, I took what little I had and came here, not wanting to be anywhere near the people who abandoned me. You saw how well that turned out. I got my choker to hide the scar not long after coming here. I didn't like the way people stared, looking at me like I had done it to myself and might try something again. I've been singing a lot more than I used to to try and strengthen my voice but it's still not the same as it had been. It breaks a whole lot and my singing just... lost it's spark," Jack continued, taking his time with saying it all.

"I'm sure you'll find that spark, again." Mark smiled at him, "You just need time. And a break from feeling down. I really liked your singing at the boardwalk."

"Maybe. But trust me, it's not the same as what it used to be. People used to practically be spellbound whenever I sang, unable to leave till I was done. You were the first person to have any interest with it in a while," Jack said. He stretched a bit, trying to work out the soreness that had started up in his back from all the thrashing he did. That reminded him. "Since you know about the one on my neck now, you might as well know about these," He said, turning so Mark could see the three long scars on his back.

Mark flinched slightly at the sight of the scars. They looked so rough. "Are these from the same night?" Marked asked. He couldn't help but feel concerned for him. He hadn't been here long, but the longer he stayed, the more Mark wanted him to stay just to keep him safe.

Jack shook his head. "No, I got these the day after I got here. I just randomly decided to go swimming and got caught in a strong current. I ended up scraping against some rocks and got these as a result. To be honest, I developed a fear of swimming because of it," He explained. He figured that last part could be an excuse for why he'll never go in Mark's pool.

"Oh man...you just don't have very good luck, huh?" Mark touched them lightly.

Jack chuckled. "Ironic, considering that the Irish are associated with good luck." He shivered slightly when Mark touched them, the skin a little sensitive since the scar tissue was still pretty new. "But, I think that's starting to turn around. I mean, I was pretty lucky that you found me and took me in."

Mark smiled at that. "Yeah. Maybe your luck's changing for the better." He sat back a little, "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Thanks for coming in to check on me," Jack said. He could only imagine that his nightmare probably would've gotten worse if Mark hadn't woken him up. He really owed him a lot at this point.

"No problem. If you ever need anything, no matter the time of day, or night, just let me know." Mark smiled and gave one of Jack's knees a light pat. "Hopefully you'll sleep better, now." He stood and headed for the door, pausing in the doorway. "Goodnight, Jack."

"I'll keep that in mind. Night, Mark," Jack said, giving him a small wave as he left.

Mark gave him a smile and headed back to his room, laying down in bed.

Chica had moved back to her own bed and was already fast asleep.

Jack flopped back with a sigh. Surprisingly, it had felt good to talk about what happened, like a weight had been lifted, even if it was an altered version of the events. Eventually he drifted off to sleep again and, thankfully, it was a dreamless sleep this time.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next morning, Mark woke up at his usual time, taking Chica downstairs and opening the door to let her out so she could run, pee, whatever she needed. He started up some pancakes, figuring Jack might enjoy something on the sweeter side after a rough night.

Jack stirred, stretching a bit before getting out of bed. He went through the clothes Mark had bought him before settling on a long sleeved blue shirt that complemented his eyes and a pair of dark grey jeans. He glanced at his choker. Should he wear it? Mark knew about the scar now and didn't seem to mind it. He bit his lip in thought. No, for once, he'd leave it off. He could always put it on later if he needed to. That decided, he made his way downstairs. Damn, whatever Mark was making smelled awesome.

Mark heard him come downstairs and turned toward the entrance of the kitchen. "Good morning!" he called to him from his spot in front of the stove. He knew his way there by now, so he knew Jack wouldn't be long.

"Morning!" Jack called back before making his way to the kitchen. He stifled a yawn as he entered, still a little drowsy since his sleep had been interrupted by that nightmare. "So, what's for breakfast? It smells delicious," he asked.

"I'm making pancakes! Figured you'd need a little pick-me-up after last night. And what better way than sugar and fluff?" Mark chuckled.

"Sugary stuff is the best pick-me-up!" Jack said. He'd actually never had a pancake before but was just gonna pretend he had. He was surprised Mark hadn't said anything about him not wearing his choker. Maybe he hadn't noticed? That or maybe Mark was trying to be considerate by not talking about a potentially touchy subject.

"I'll agree with you there," Mark chuckled. It hadn't escaped his notice that he wasn't wearing the usually very obvious choker. Considering though that Jack didn't seem keen on talking about it, he didn't want to upset him. But he'd also noticed that without it on, it was easier to pay attention to Jack's face. The scar was pronounced, sure, but not as much as Jack's eyes. That bright blue was hard to look away from. "So, I'm thinking after breakfast, we check on the comments to that video. What do you think?"

"Yeah, sounds great. I'm curious what people thought of me," Jack said, taking a seat at the table. He glanced outside, the light reflecting off the water in the pool shining through the sliding door and onto his face. The light danced across his electric blue eyes, bluer than the ocean he used to call home. Did people like him? He would love to be in more videos but knew it probably wouldn't be as likely if no one liked him very much.

Mark set a plate of pancakes in front of Jack and noticed he seemed lost in thought. "You alright?" The light from the pool flitting across his face was somehow very enchanting to him. Something about it just locked him in place, entranced by his looks.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about if anyone liked me in that video. I want to do more stuff with you, but I figure it won't be all that much if your fans don't like me," Jack said.

Mark smiled. "Hey, if I like you, I'm sure they do too." He sat down with his own plate and poured some syrup on top of them. "Here," he handed him the bottle, "Eat up and we'll go check it out."

The corners of Jack's mouth turned up in a small smile. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Mark," He said, taking the bottle. He poured some syrup on his pancakes and dug in. Holy shite balls these are good! He knew what his favorite breakfast is now.

 

After breakfast, Mark chased Chica back inside and they went upstairs to the computer to check comments. "There are a lot of comments here," he pointed out, scrolling through them. He mainly found positive remarks from his fans, a lot of them saying Jack was cute, others saying he was funny. There was always an odd hater or two, but those were few and easy to ignore.

Jack had a bright smile on his face as Mark went through the comments. He honestly hadn't expected so many people to like him. It was crazy, just two days ago no one gave a rat's ass about him or even noticed him, now he was friends with Mark and all these people were saying nice things about him. Maybe his luck really was changing.

"I think we can call that last video a success," Mark grinned, "They really want to see you in another video."

"I really wasn't expecting that many people to want me to. I was mostly just rambling nonsense during that video. Now I'm eager to try out stuff besides gaming and see if I do any good with that," Jack said, his smiling causing the skin around his eyes to crinkle.

Mark chuckled. "Well, we could always plan a different type of video. I sometimes do challenges and skits. They can be really fun to do, and I usually get positive feedback. And in the meantime, we can do that FNAF competition we talked about."

"Well I'm up for any of that so whenever you want to do or plan something just let me know. When do you wanna do the FNAF competition?" Jack asked. The competition would be fun, he wanted to see how good Mark was at the game and whether or not he would have a chance at beating him.

"We could record that today, if you're up for it." Mark smiled. He really liked watching him play yesterday, so playing with or against him was bound to be fun. He was also sure that his fans would enjoy it. "We could also look at creating you a channel."

"You bet your ass I'm up for it!" Jack said excitedly, "And yeah, maybe we can do that after we get done playing FNAF." He was eager to get started now, it was going to be so much fun. He was curious to see if FNAF gets any scarier on the third and fourth night.

Mark grinned, "Well, let's get set up then so I can defend my crown!" He chuckled and pulled up controls for the camera, as well as FNAF. While Mark was doing that, Jack left for a moment and came back with his choker on. He assumed it was because Jack wasn't comfortable enough to show his scar to the subscribers yet. "And while we're at it, let's come up with a username for you. People need a name to look up to find you. Something unique and personal to you." He spoke up when Jack sat down.

A username, hmmm. He thought for a few moments. Got one! "Jacksepticeye. When I was twelve or thirteen I got a bad cut over my eye playing with some friends. It ended up getting infected and as a joke one of my friends called me Jack Septic Eye. The nickname ended up sticking. I still got the scar above my eyebrow, though you can't hardly see it now," He said. Plus, his eyes glowed green and the color green was associated with infection.

"Jacksepticeye, huh? That sounds kinda cool," Mark smiled. The nickname sort of fit him, in a way. Especially with his green hair. "Jacksepticeye, it is. So, Jack," he turned on the camera and started recording, "Would you like to go first, or should I?"

"I wanna see the King of Five Nights at Freddy's in action, so you can go first," Jack said. Plus, watching him play might help him get an idea of what all to do. Even if he didn't, he would still get to hopefully see Mark freak out over any scares.

"Alright. I see your strategy, but alright... Oh, shoot, I gotta do my intro," he turned to the camera, "Hello everybody, my name's Markiplier, and I am back, again, as King of Five Nights At Freddies! But I might not be king for too much longer. I have here beside me my challenger, Jack, and since you all liked him so much, we're doing some more videos together. So!" Mark clapped and rubbed his hands together, "The rules are as such, we are going to take turns playing through nights 3, 4, and maybe 5 depending on how long it takes. Each night, we will switch off every time we die. So, since I'm going first, if I die then Jack gets a try, and when he dies I get to try again, and so on and so forth. By the end, we will know who the true king is. Now, Jack," Mark turned to Jack. "Since I've played the game before, would you like a handicap that would have me play at a higher difficulty level, or should we stay on the same difficulty?"

"Hmmm. I want it to be fair but giving you a handicap feels like cheating. I think we should have it stay on the same difficulty," Jack said after mulling it over for a few moments. He brushed some of his bright green hair out of his face, some of the bangs having fallen in his eyes a little. It was at that time when it was transitioning between shades of green, as could be seen by the two centimeters of a dark, bluish green at his roots, fading into the bright green at the end of the two centimeters.

"Then that begs a question: how hard are we making this. You were playing at a regular difficulty level yesterday." Mark raised a brow, "You willing to try something harder?"

"Scratch my last answer. If I'm playing hard mode then so are you," Jack said. Well this was going to be tough, he just barely survived the second night on normal. Third and fourth night on hard was gonna be an absolute bitch.

"Be glad it's not Nightmare mode. That one's near impossible."

"Nightmare mode? Jaysus how many difficulty levels are there? Anyway, you gonna start your turn now? Or are we just gonna chat the whole video? Not that I mind but I believe your subscribers came to see who the true King of FNAF is." Jack had a teasing tone at the end, giving Mark a mischievous smirk.

"I think they know who the true king is!" Mark puffed out his chest and started night 3 on hard. "Okay, okay." Mark started periodically flipping the camera up, mainly focusing on Pirate's Cove. "Don't you dare, Foxy. I'm watching you! ...What are they doin', what are they do- Hello Bon-Bon! NOPE!" He shut the left door and checked the camera on Foxy again. "I SEE YOU! You stay in your room. Where's Chica, Chica, Chica. Bonnie's gone," He opened the door and kept checking camera's. "God, I forgot how quick I had to move."

Jack couldn't help but chuckle a little as he watched Mark play. He had to admit, seeing someone freak out over a video game actually was pretty funny. Was this how it looked when he was playing yesterday? "Better find Chica fast, she might be coming for your royal ass," He piped up.

"She can't handle this royal ass!" Mark exclaimed, checking cameras and doors quickly. "Chica couldn't handle my- OH HI! HELLO!" He shut the door on the right quickly, "BUH-BYE! Bonnie's in the bathroom... Hhhey Freddie, go away!~ Come again, NEVER!... Okay doors are clear." He opened both doors and checked Pirate's Cove. "Oh shit... oh shit oh shit, where's Foxy?!" He heard the tell tale noise of an animatronic dashing through the hall just as he checked the camera. "No, no no no NO!" Mark jumped hard when Foxy popped up on the screen, killing him. "...Ffffuck Foxy!" He sighed and took the headset off.

"Damn, Foxy's quick. So I guess it's my turn now?" Jack asked. Jeez, that all went really fast. Hopefully he'd better luck with his turn. Though he wasn't counting on it, heck he wouldn't be surprised if he died quicker. After all, he didn't have as much experience with the game as Mark did.

"Yeah, your turn. The game is randomized, so it never quite plays the same way twice. Foxy's always the wild card in the game." Mark handed him the headset and scooted the controls over for him. "Good luck, Jack."

Jack nodded, slipping on the headphones. "I got pretty lucky last time. Let's see how I fare this time," He said before starting the night. As the phone guy started talking he checked the stage camera. "Chica's gone, she's gone already. Shite balls." He checked Pirate's cove before checking the hallway lights. Judging from when Mark played and his own experience, he didn't really need to check the cameras for anyone accept Foxy. For the others he just needed to check the halls now and then.

He did a quick flip through the cameras to try and find Chica. "Where in the hell is she?" Jack checked the halls again. "Chica is gonna show up soon, I don't want her to show up soon! Please don't show up! 'Celebrate', fuck off ye stupid poster! I don't want to!" He checked the halls yet again before doing another flip through the cameras. "Ooooh hi! Yeesh! How are ya?" He said when he found Chica in the east hall. "You fuckin' stay there you Kentucky fried bitch."

Mark laughed at Jack's comment towards Chica in the game. "Oh my god, that's perfect! Kentucky fried bitch."

Jack grinned at Mark's reaction before returning his attention to the game. He checked the halls and yelled when he saw Chica peering in the window. He quickly slammed the door shut. "NOPE! You stay out ya bitch! No chickens comin' in my house!" He checked the other hall and glanced at the camera again before checking to see if she had left. "She's gone. She's gone. But where did she go?" He quickly found her in the east hall again.

"Yeah you just back up now you stupid chicken," he continued flipping through the cameras, his eyes widening and mouth dropping, "All three of the bastards are gone now! Uh oh! Uh oh!" Jack checked the halls. "Seriously all three are gone! Oh balls!" He said before going back to the cameras. He found Bonnie backstage. "Oh god Chica moved again. Nobody comin' in my house! I'm gonna hold this place down till it fucking kills me," He said, lighting up the halls again.

Mark chuckled, "That's kind of the point, though."

Chica walked by and peeked inside. What did her master see in that stranger. He was always off with him, lately, playing games and going out on walks. She didn't like it. She needed to expose that thing for what it was. But how?

"I know! It was a bad choice of words," Jack replied. He checked the Pirate's Cove camera. "Thank god this guy hasn't come out yet. I'm surprisingly doing pretty good so far." He lit up the halls again before returning to the cameras. He saw Bonnie close to the camera in the dining area and then saw Chica in another camera.

"Oh god. Oh god Chica's there," He groaned out, "I'm fine. I got this. I got this." He glanced at the clock. "Three a.m.. We're fine. We're fucking fine. Nobody comin' in." Jack pulled up the camera for Pirate's Cove. "Ooh hi! Hey there buddy boy! He is a creepy bastard," He said when he saw Foxy peering through the curtains, "Chica and Foxy are creepy as fuck." Creepy laughter sounded in the game. "Stop laughing fuckos! It's four a.m. I'm gonna survive. You guys can't do anything about it!" He glanced at Foxy again, "You are fuckin' weird!"

And why did this strange thing keep saying she was creepy?! Chica huffed and sat next to Mark.

Shit... Jack was getting awfully close to the end of the night. "I'm comin' fer ye, Jack~" Mark put on a creepy pirate voice for Foxy, "And we're go'n to play a lil game~"

"Mark! I know that's you! Don't do that!" Jack said, glancing at Mark. Just because he had headphones on didn't mean he wouldn't be able to tell if a voice was in the room with him or not. He checked the halls again before going back to the camera. "Where did Chica go? Chica ya big bitch where are ya?" He once again checked the lights before looking at Foxy in Pirate's Cove.

"You, yup, you don't move. It's five a.m guys, I'm doing so well. I'm doing so good, hahaha. Suck that Mark!" He flipped through all the cameras before once more checking the halls. "I'm good, I'm fine. Nobody comin' to kill me. Jack is fine. They're all afraid of the boss, they're afraid of me." He lit up the halls again. He frowned when he heard a weird noise and checked Foxy's camera, revealing Foxy was no longer on the stage and was close to the camera now, head tilted and hook raised.

"Oh no! Don't you fuckin' dare! You stay there now you big bitch! Please don't come and kill me I am so close to the end. I'm so close to six a.m. Pleease don't. Stay there, stay there. Look how fuckin' creepy he is," He said, tilting his head like Foxy for a moment. He checked the halls again and looked back at Foxy for a second. "Oooh come on six a.m.! Please, please just do it for me! Do it- Yes!" He said, raising his hands in the air when the chime rang and the clock changed to six a.m. "Three nights survived and not one bitch came in to kill me. That's what's up! Nobody messin' with Jack! Haha!"

"Holy shit!" Mark was damn sure his crown was in trouble now. Granted, it was an imaginary crown in the first place, but still! "How'd you get so lucky?"

Jack shrugged. "Luck of the Irish? Anyway, is it your turn now or do I go ahead and attempt night four?" Once again, he was surprised at how well he was playing. He honestly didn't think he'd survive the third night on his first try, especially since it was on hard mode.

"Y'know what, go ahead and play night four. I want to see where this goes." Surely he couldn't win night four right after night three. There was no way.

"Well alright then," He said, returning his attention to the game. "Okay, night four, here we go." Jack checked the lights before going to the cameras. He went through them, then darted back to the dining area camera when he realized something. His eyes widened, jaw dropping when he saw Chica standing there already. The phone hadn't even stopped ringing yet. "You moved already?! It's not even five minutes in!" When the phone picked up he could hear knocking. "What was that?!" He said, quickly checking the halls, "What's the banging?" He checked the cameras again.

"Oh all three are fucking gone already. STOP with the bangy bang. I don't like it!" As he checked the halls and went back to the cameras the creepy laugh sounded and music started playing. "Oh this is getting tense as shit now." A garbled scream was heard and then static. Jack's eyes went wide again, jaw dropping once more. "What was that?! Mister Telephone Guy? I didn't even listen to what he said. Too busy tryin' ta save my my own ass. Kay, I got this. No night four gonna get me. Fuck this shit, I've come too far to fail already. Haven't failed even once yet. Doing so good. You guys proud of me?" He said, voice cracking when he said the Guy part of Mister Telephone Guy.

Mark chuckled. "Must be getting creepy. Better be careful, Jack~ Don't forget about Foxy."

"I'll check on him in a minute. I'm being a boss right now! This is how bosses play horror games." He said, checking the halls before going back to the cameras. Music started playing as he flipped through. "Uh oh. Chica, Chica where are you? A-hai buddy! Let's eat? No, i don't want to I'm good right now," He said, finding Chica in the bathroom. Jack checked the halls again before bringing the cameras back up. No sign of Foxy yet. He checked the halls once more and then went through the cameras.

"Hii," He said when he saw Foxy peeking through the curtain in the Pirate's Cove camera. Jack got a creeped out look when he got to the camera on the east hall. "Look at those creepy eyes just standin there! I never noticed that before. Two a.m. Gettin tense." He flipped through the cameras and checked the halls once more. "I'm not even talking all that much now cuz I'm scared," He said, chuckling.

"Freddy actually hasn't shown up yet. At all. Ever." He was flipping through the cameras when he found Freddy's face really close to the east hall corner camera. "Oh jaysus fuck! He's right there! H-hey, two a.m, already at fifty six percent. That's not good. That's not good at all. That's really fuckin bad actually." Jack's face looked scared when he got to the Pirate's Cove camera, showing Foxy was closer to the camera with his head tilted again. "Shit! You're movin! He's on the move. He's just, he's out for a jog."

"A jog that'll get'cha killed," Mark chuckled. It was not looking good for Jack this time around. Even if he tried, he'd run out of power before 6am.

Jack didn't comment on that, checking the halls again. The light illuminated Bonnie's face in the doorway. He yelled before quickly shutting the door. "Ah jesus!" He looked at the other hallway before looking to see if Bonnie left. "He's gone, he's gone. okay." He pulled up the camera for Pirate's Cove to find Foxy was gone, a sign saying 'It's Me' on the stage. "Oh no! He's gone! Where'd he go?!"

Jack looked at the halls and went back to the cameras to see Foxy sprinting down the hallway. "Ah! Jesus, no! No, no you don't! No you fucking don't! Stay out ya bitch!" He said, quickly shutting the door. Foxy could be heard pounding on the door as he turned to check the other hallway when Freddy's face popped up in front of him, screaming. Jack screamed, throwing his hands up in front of his face. "Fuck me! Screw you Freddy!"

Even Mark jumped a bit when Freddy showed up on the screen, having been watching everything with Jack to see if he'd miss anything. "Freddy was out to get you, that time around. Damn."

"I literally had no time to keep him from coming in! Damn it Freddy! Why did you have to show up while I was dealing with Foxy?! *sigh* Looks like it's your turn Mark," Jack said, scooting away from the keyboard so Mark could play.

Mark took the headset and put it on. "I've still got to get through night three. Let's hope luck is on my side," Mark glanced at the camera. "Okay, Foxy. Now it's personal." Besides what characters popped up when, Mark's playthrough of night three went fairly the same. This time though, he kept a good eye and ear out for Foxy. "Come on... I know what you're planning... AHAH!" Mark quickly closed the left door that was immediately followed by banging on said door, "FUCK YOU! You ain't gettin' me this time! Okay, okay, 5am. One more hour, I can do this. 30% power? No biggly wiggly, I got this - CHICA! Hey babe- BANG!" He shut the door on Chica and opened the left one once Foxy was gone.

"Let's eat, how about you eat my ass.... on second thought, don't. Last thing I need is a sharp beak- You know what, I'm just gonna cut that thought off right there... Okay, Chica's gone. Bonnie!" He shut the left and opened the right. "Hey welcome to the party, bro! You just missed your sister... oh god, I'm so close. It's right there, I just know it." The power went out and Mark froze as the Freddy's eyes lit up in the doorway. "Oh come on... please please please... YES!" Mark threw his hands in the air as the clock chimed 6am and the children cheered. "Holy shit... that was close."

Jack clapped. "You did it! That's one win and one loss for both of us now. Are you going to continue on to night four or are we gonna switch again?"

"I think I'll go ahead and continue. If that's alright with you, of course."

Chica huffed from her spot next to Mark.

"Yeah that's fine. I'm good with watching for now. Give Freddy a good ass kicking for me," Jack said, leaning back in his chair. He glanced at Chica when she huffed. "Oh hey Chica. When did you did you get in here?" He was tempted to try and pet her, he really did want to get along with her.

"She's been here for a little bit," Mark ruffled Chica's fur and patted her side. "Such a good girl, aren't cha?" He smiled and turned back to the computer.

Chica glanced up at Jack and gave him a quiet growl in reply. She still wasn't happy about the "creepy" comments.

"...She might've been in here since you yelled things about Chica the chicken..." Mark guessed after her growl.

"Oops. Sorry Chica, I was talking about a chicken, not you. You're adorable." Aw shite. Her hearing the stuff he was saying to game couldn't have helped his case with her. She probably liked him even less know. He really needed to get on her good side.

Chica simply huffed in reply.

Mark run of night four went about as well as night three, flipping cameras, narrowly closing doors, running out of power and the like. He ran out of power with just enough time before 6am that he couldn't win this round. He'd been lucky, with the eerie messages popping up here and there, that Golden Freddy hadn't popped up during that play through, or he would've been dead much sooner. "Well, that went well."

"You did better than my first run. You were so close!" Hopefully Jack would fair better this time now that it was his turn again. He was gonna be pissed if an animatronic got him while he was holding off Foxy again. A double team was not fair!

"Well, we're currently at a tie. The next win takes it." Mark handed Jack the headset and scooted over so he could use the controls. "Best of luck to you," he smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

Jack nodded before putting on the headset and going over to the controls. At one a.m he found Chica in the east hall camera. "Ohhh hi! Is that second pair of teeth in your mouth from the phone dude? Did he get stuffed in you?" He questioned. He glanced at the clock. "It's still only one a.m.?" He checked on Pirate's Cove to find Foxy peering through the curtains. "Aw fuck you Foxy fuck. This game really brings out the swearing huh?" He went to the the east hall corner camera and he got an extremely unnerved look on his face when he saw Chica's head twitching spasmodically.

"Her fucking head is movin'! She's never done that before! Stay calm, everybody stay calm. Keep your cool. Stay calm." He checked the halls and looked at Foxy in Pirate's cove. "If you can stay there till three a.m. I think I should be good. Actually I was good last time, I blocked you but Freddy showed up and said 'Hey! Let's be a douchebag!'" He glanced at Chica still sitting in the east hall corner. "Can you stop freaking out like that please? It's freaking me out. And I don't do so good when I'm freaked out." At two a.m. he noted Chica had moved back a bit and Bonnie was still standing way back in the hall with Foxy still at Pirate's cove. "Everything is good, everything is awesome. Are these all my posters? Cuz I started working here?" He said, hovering over the posters with the mouse. He glanced at the east hall corner camera and his eyes widened when he saw a shadowed face close to the camera. "Oohh, jesus eyeballs!" He glanced at the clock.

"Two a.m., sixty percent. I got this. I got this, hold my beer! Fuck yeah, let's do this people. Let's fucking boss through night four. I have a strong feeling I'm gonna fail again. I don't want to though." Some time passed. "Three a.m. Okay and you're still not on the move. Thank you, you're such a nice friend. I love you mister Foxy! Until you come and try to kill me. Then I hate your face," He said, looking at Foxy. More time passed. "Aw shit he's moving! I left it too long to check." He said, looking at Foxy again. He looked through the cameras and noted Bonnie had moved again. "What's making sounds?" He said, checking the halls. Suddenly Freddy popped up and jump-scared him, causing him to scream and cover his face again. "Ahhhh shit! Fuuck youu! Freddy finger your asshole!" He actually had no idea what fingering an asshole did but he'd heard people on the street say it to someone in anger once so he picked it up from that.

Mark laughed hard, almost falling off his chair. "So suggestive! Well, it was going well. Maybe next time, if I don't beat it first."

Chica laid on the floor to take a nap. She was used to her master's antics by now, and she was sleepy. A nap would be nice right now.

Jack chuckled. "I guess I got a little carried away there for a second. But yeah, maybe. You may assume your post again good sir," He said, the last part meant as a joke as he moved so Mark could play. He glanced at Chica. Despite them not getting along at the moment, he had to admit that she was adorable.

"Don't mind if I do," Mark grinned and took his spot in front of the computer. "Okay you pizza palace of chaos and death! You're going down!" He put on the headset and jumped into the game. Ignoring the phone guy was pretty much essential in not getting caught early. "C'mon, c'mon there's Bonnie. Glitchy bitch Chica, stay away- NO!" He shut the door. "Go back to the farm! Get eaten by Foxy or something... not in that wa- you guys know what I mean!"

He opened the door again, checking cameras, shutting doors, checking lights. All the while, running low on power. And just when Mark thought he had it, "I've got this, almost there!" He turned to look at his room and saw a golden Freddy suit slumped on the floor. "Oh shit... Hi Fred-boy... eheh... please don't get me, just glitch away quietly and I'll leave quiet-LY!" Mark jumped as Golden Freddy's jump scare played, ending the night. "Dammit..."

Jack's eyes widened when he saw Fredbear/Golden Freddy. "Whoa! That guy's new! Where the heck did he come from? He just popped in out of nowhere." He thought Foxy, Chica, Bonnie and Freddy where the only animatronics in the game.

Mark sighed and took the headset off. "Yeah, he glitches in at random. Can't really help it when he pops up."

"Well that's bullshit. Hopefully I won't have a run in with him," Jack said before scooting over to start his turn. He frowned when he saw Foxy was peering through the curtain. "You're out already?! Why are you out already?! You are a BIIIIIG, giant penis. That's all you are ya fucker." He was not pleased when he found Chica in the east hall corner. Thankfully she moved back a moment later. Foxy had moved closer.

"Would you stop that?!" He noted with apprehension that Freddy and Bonnie had moved. "I love getting scared. No better feeling save for getting punched in the nut-sack," He said sarcastically, trying to break his tension. Two a.m. and down to fifty six percent. Jack saw Foxy was gone and went to shut the door but accidentally hit the switch for the light instead of the door, getting jump-scared. "Aghhhh fuck it! Fuck you Foxy!"

Mark flinched at the mention of being punched in the nuts. "Ooo, yeah, the best feeling in the world," He said sarcastically. "Foxy is such a sneaky little bastard."

"I would have had him if I didn't accidentally hit the light switch!" Jack replied, clearly annoyed by his stupid mistake. He handed over the headphones and moved so Mark could play again. That's it, the big boy pants were on now. Next time, he would win. He'd show those creepy frickers who's boss.

Mark chuckled and put on the headset. "Well, maybe next time. It happens, all you can do is learn from it and try again."

It was still annoying. They should have had the switches further apart. When you're in a rush like that it's easy to hit the wrong button. Or Jack at least hoped it was. It would be embarrassing if he was the only one that ever did that.

Chica rolled onto her back, all four paws in the air as she slept with her tongue lolled out in a sleepy grin.

Mark chuckled at her and turned back to the game, jumping into it. He already knew he'd have to edit this down a bit. He was a bit quieter as he focused on his goal. "I am so sorry I'm being quiet... I know it's a bit borin- HEY! Get back to the party room, Bon-Bon! I don't like you! I don't like you one~ bit!" He almost had it, he was sure this time. "Holy crap, I'm almost there!" He'd even managed not to be surprised by Golden Freddy, somehow, so surely he had this in the bag. "Come ooooon 6am. Ah! Go away Freddy!" He pressed the button to the close the door and nothing happened. "Wait, no! Shit!" he kept clicking the button, "CLOSE!! AH! Fuck a duck!" He sat back in his chair and heaved a sigh. "...I had forgotten how hard this was the first time."

Jack chuckled. "That poor duck," He joked. "Nice to know that even the King of FNAF himself has difficulties with this game's bullshit. Maybe you'll get it next time, if I don't first." He was gonna work real hard to try and survive the night this time. Newbie or not, he was determined to win.

"Well no one's perfect," Mark chuckled. "We'll see how it goes." He leaned over and gave Chica's tummy a rub. He'd have to take her out for a little run later.

"We'll see," Jack said before starting his turn. "Foxy's my favorite. He looks the creepiest to me. The rest are just cute, to me at least," He said as he quickly scanned through the cameras. He cracked a couple jokes to try and break the tension as he went through. Foxy didn't start peering through the currents till one a.m., which Jack was happy about. He freaked out a little when Bonnie's face flickered on the screen, the phrase, 'It's Me' appearing. After two a.m. Foxy was off his stage. At three a.m. Foxy sprinted for his door and Jack successfully kept him out this time.

"Ha! Locked you out this time ya bitch!" Bonnie appeared at the door not long after and he locked him out as well. Freddy and Bonnie's face flickered on screen with the phrase again. "Come on just let me pass night four! That's all I want! Ah, sons a bitches why ya gotta annoy me?" Jack said at four a.m., finding Chica spazzing in the east hall corner. "Five a.m.! Yes! Last stretch!" Foxy ran for his door again and just as he shut the door the power ran out. "Come on six a.m.! Please! Yes! Yes! Stick that up your ass Freddy and smoke it! I am the new king! Whoo!" Jack threw his hands up in victory, jumping to his feet. He ran in a little circle around his chair in celebration, hands still in the air.

Well holy shit... Jack won! Mark's mouth hung open for a moment before twisting up into a smile as Jack celebrated. "Fuck!" He gave Jack a playful nudge, "You beat me!"

Chica groaned in her sleep. Why'd they have to be so noisy?

Jack had a big smile on his face, beautiful blue eyes gleaming with joy. "Not bad for a newbie huh? Place a crown upon my head for I am the new king! FNAF is my bitch!" He said excitedly. He actually fucking won! This was so awesome!

Mark caught himself staring and shook his head, his face slightly flushed. "Well damn! Why did I bet my crown?!" He chuckled slightly and looked at the camera, "Well, I guess that's that! Your new king of FNAF!" He gestured to Jack and gave him a round of applause.

Jack chuckled too. "Never bet what you don't want to lose Mark." He took an over-the-top bow when Mark started applauding him, still bearing a bright grin. "As new king I promise to bare my title well! Free pizza from Freddy's for everyone!" He said jokingly.

Mark laughed, "Mmm sounds so tasty!" He turned to the camera, "No doubting that result. So I guess that's all for today. This took a lot longer than I thought it would! Chica actually fell asleep on the floor next to me."

"Don't know how she did considering all the yelling. Must be a pretty tired doggo if she could fall asleep with that going on." Jack was aware that he could get pretty loud, sometimes without realizing it. It was part of the reason why he had been a really good siren before his throat was cut, his voice could carry a lot further than the other's did.

"Probably used to the yelling I do, sometimes," Mark chuckled. "Anyway, thank you guys for watching. This has been fun, even though I lost my crown. At least it's passing down to someone worthy of it. Oh! And this guy here," he pointed at Jack, "is going to be starting his own channel soon. So look out for that! I'll do a short informational video with a link to him and everything a bit later. And as always, I will see you... in the next video. Buh-bye!~"

"Bye!" Jack said, waving as the video ended. "That was a lot fun, we should do something like that again at some point. Hopefully your subscribers won't think I'm trying to mooch off of your fame or something when my channel's up." He would hate for people to think that, he was having a great time doing videos with Mark and he really wanted to see how well he could do making videos of his own.

"There might be a few people who think that, but just ignore them. With the number of fans who are already interested in you, you'll probably have your own fanbase pretty quick. I could even get a friend or two of mine to give you a shout out. Get you some exposure." Mark smiled, "Before you know it, you might actually be able to monetize your videos, and boom! You've got a job!"

"Well, if they don't mind giving a shout out. You don't have to ask them, I'd hate to impose. You've already done so much for me. But being able to do Youtube as a job would be amazing. I didn't exactly get the best education back home which is why I've been having so much trouble finding one. With Youtube that won't matter, I can just have fun like I did playing games with you today and yesterday." Jack wasn't sure he'd be all that happy with a normal job anyway. He liked having free reign and being able to have fun with what he was doing and it seemed like most jobs wouldn't allow him do that.

"You already know what I'll say about that," Mark chuckled slightly. "It's no problem at all. Really. I like helping, and I'm sure they won't mind my asking." Mark stopped the recording and pulled up YouTube on the main screen. "Let's go ahead and get you set up. Shouldn't take too long. And then we can get some lunch. Sound good?"

Jack smiled. "You really are a nice guy, you know that? But yeah, sounds good to me. All that yelling has me starved," He said, chuckling. Playing a game involving a pizzeria had him wondering if pizza was a food he'd like. Should he ask Mark about maybe having pizza for lunch?

Mark chuckled and got to work setting up the channel for him. He showed him where he'd go to upload and what to expect for upload times. He'd have to keep videos short at first, but that wasn't too bad. Mark tended to keep some of his own short, anyway, even with the ability to upload more than fifteen minutes at a time. Longer videos were more for special occasions in his opinion. Once he was done getting him set up, he went ahead and set up their first collab to upload on Jack's channel, just with his own intro cut out. They'd do the same with the other video and eventually get him recording his own, soon enough. "Okay, so!" he sat back while the video uploaded, "What would you like for lunch?"

Jack already knew two videos he wanted to record himself. He wanted to do a sort of introduction video, just something to help people get to know him better, and then maybe play night five of FNAF for one. "Think we could have pizza? Messing around with Freddy and the gang got me in the mood for it."

"Pizza does sound really good." Actually, it sounded perfect right about now. He wasn't exactly in the mood to cook, and they'd only have to wait maybe twenty to thirty minutes for it. "Alright then, two pizzas." He opened up a separate tab on the computer and brought up Pizza Hut's website. They were closest and that way he could pay for it ahead of time. He went ahead and built himself a meat lover's pizza and then handed it over to Jack to make his. "Go ahead and figure out what you want on your's. I'll let Chica out to run in the yard and grab my card." Mark stood and clapped his hands. "C'mon Chica! Wanna go outside?"

Chica popped up from her nap. Outside! Yes! Fresh air! She rolled over and got to her feet.

"Yeah, let's go!" Mark ran down the stairs with Chica on his heels and opened the sliding door to the back yard, letting her run for a bit.

"Will do." Jack took off his choker and stuck it in his pocket before he glanced through the toppings. Having never eaten pizza before, he wasn't sure what to expect so he just picked what he thought might be good. He was a little curious how pineapple would be on it so he got that along with ham and extra cheese. Even without having pizza before he knew extra cheese would be awesome. After having those breakfast sandwiches he was pretty fond of cheese.

While Chica got a good run, Mark set out some food for her and grabbed his wallet off the counter. He went back upstairs to rejoin him. "Got what you wanted picked out?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Decided to try something different from what I usually get, just to mix things up," He answered. He moved so Mark could finish ordering everything. "So, anything you wanna do while we wait for the pizza to get here?"

Mark finished the order and paid for it. Now all they had to do is wait. "We could sit downstairs, maybe put on some music or a movie."

"That sounds good. You can choose whether we watch a movie or listen to music, I'm good either way." Just sitting and relaxing for a little bit would be nice.

Mark stood up from his chair. "Come on. I think we can just listen to music. Give our eyes a break from screens." He lead the way back down to the living room and looked through the music on his phone. He picked out a good playlist filled with some relaxing songs and plugged his phone into the dock that had speakers attached. With the volume up at a comfortable level so they could still chat, he moved the coffee table and laid on the floor.

Chica was in the kitchen, munching on her fresh food after a decent run.

Jack raised an eyebrow in confusion when Mark laid on the floor, tilting his head. "Why are you laying on the floor? You do realize you have perfectly good furniture right?" As the music played he started humming along with it after a moment. As a siren, he had a pretty good ear for music and could pick up songs fairly quickly.

"Sometimes it's just nice to do something different. That and this rug is new, so it's still really soft and squishy." Mark grinned, wiggling around on the floor a little. He settled and stared at the ceiling, listening to Jack hum to the music and enjoying the slight breeze of fresh air that wafted through the house from the open sliding door. This was surprisingly peaceful, this whole setting he was in. His mind started to wander, though, over his conversations with Jack up till now. One thing bothered him a bit. "Hey Jack... can I ask you a question?"

Well if that was the case. Jack got down and joined Mark on the rug. He was right, it was soft. He rubbed his hand against the soft texture of the rug as he hummed, letting his thoughts drift for a moment. He turned his head to look at Mark when he spoke up. "Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Well... when we were talking about the people who attacked you... you called them 'human traffickers,' not 'muggers.' I was just curious, why did you call them that?" There was something strangely intimate about the fact that Jack was laying next to him on the floor. Mark did his best to focus on the question, though.

Jack was silent for a moment, unsure if he was comfortable enough to answer. Eventually, he spoke. "Because they were. I know they were because one of them called me pretty, said I would probably go for a good price," Jack shivered for a moment, his eyes clenching shut, "The look on his face, I'll never be able to get it out of my head. Beady eyes staring at me like I was an expensive cut of meat. When they started to drag me away to their van I fought back and somehow managed to get a good cut on his arm. That pissed him off and he must have decided he'd rather see me dead than get whatever he could have gotten out of me, because that's when he cut my throat. They left me for dead and drove off while I was clutching at my neck and writhing in pain. I passed out at some point and I guess someone found me 'cause I woke up in the hospital."

Mark rolled onto his side while Jack spoke, looking down at him. "Damn... I'm so sorry..." He couldn't help but stare at Jack's neck. He couldn't imagine going through something like that. The fact that those kinds of things still happened had always bothered him, but to actually know someone who went through it... "...How did you even survive that?" He mumbled, not really expecting an answer.

Jack's hand went up to the scar, tracing it with his thumb. "I ask myself that same question everyday. I guess I just got lucky. Funny that it would save me and yet luck couldn't keep me from getting into the situation in the first place. If the cut had gone just a little bit deeper it would have hit an artery and I would have bled to death, alone and scared. The thought of that scares me more than anything. That I could have died and no one I cared about would have been with me to say goodbye, to tell me that I was gonna be okay and move on to something better." Tears pricked at his eyes. Dying alone was one of his greatest fears.

Mark wasn't sure what to do. Jack had almost lost his life because some assholes wanted to use him for money. He'd thought he would die alone and unwanted... Mark was sure of one thing, he never wanted Jack to have to go through that again. So he did the only thing he could think of. He slid an arm under Jack and wrapped the other around him, pulling him into a hug.

Jack was a bit surprised by the hug, but he accepted it gratefully. He didn't know how he was so lucky as to meet someone who could care so much about a person they barely knew. It felt good to have someone care about him again. For a while he had thought he was going to be alone for the rest of his life. He was glad he had been proven wrong.

"You'll never be alone or uncared for ever again, if I can help it. Okay?" Mark promised, feeling protective of the siren.

Mark's words left Jack stunned. They hardly knew each other, and yet, he would promise something like that? How could one person be so nice? All could do was nod in response, too dumbfounded to say anything. Guilt pricked at him for a moment. Mark was doing so much for him, while he was keeping such a huge secret and only telling half-truths.

Mark let him go and smiled, laying back on the rug again. "Sorry if that's a little forward of me. I know we barely know each other..." He couldn't help himself, though. He already considered Jack a friend. He was fun to spend time with and there was just... something about him.

"No, it's okay. I mean, yeah it's a little unusual, but... it's nice to know I can actually count on someone to be there for me. For a while, I thought the only person I could count on was myself." He'd never be able to pay Mark back for all he was doing for him. He owed far too much.

"Well, you've at least got me. And really, don't worry about paying me back, alright? I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything." To Mark, he was just doing the right thing. Jack deserved to have some happiness in his life after everything that had happened to him.

"It doesn't feel right for you to do all this for me and not return the favor somehow." Jack really did want to show his gratitude in some way, even if it was something small. It just didn't sit right with him, receiving so much and not giving anything as thanks.

"Well," Mark rubbed at the back of his neck, "if you feel that way, I can't exactly stop you. Just don't be in a rush, okay? There's no hurry."

Jack nodded. "I don't know what way to thank you anyway, so I can't exactly rush if I don't know what I'm doing. Unless you can think of something I can do."

Mark stuck out his bottom lip in thought. Was there something he could do? "...You could help me with a video." He sat up, "I practice on my guitar sometimes and there's this song I want to record a cover of, but my vocal type doesn't really fit it. You could sing while I play."

Chica trotted in and laid next to Mark, panting.

Jack thought for a moment. He had never really sang for a large group of people before, at least, not under normal circumstances. It might actually be kinda fun. "I think I could do that. Though, I'll need to hear it so I can practice."

Mark hopped up and looked through the music on his phone. He found the original version of "Room To Breathe" and hit play. It was a song sung by the same band that sang the one Jack had been singing when they met. He figured Jack might like it and that his voice would suit the vocals better than his could.

Jack listened to the song quietly. Other than the chorus, it kinda reminded him of himself. Though that probably wasn't on purpose if Mark had been practicing it a while. He liked it. The vocals sounded similar to Lived A Lie, maybe it was done by the same band? "Yeah, I think I can definitely do that. It shouldn't take me too long to pick up, I've got a knack for learning things quickly when it comes to music. When exactly did you want to do the cover?" He said once it was over.

"I figured we could record that one tomorrow," Mark suggested, "That way you have the night to figure it out, y'know?"

"Sounds good to me. That should be plenty of time." His stomach growled a moment after he finished speaking. "Guess my stomach's getting impatient," Jack said, chuckling. Hopefully the pizza would be there soon.

Mark had been about to speak when there was a knock at the door. "Or now," Mark chuckled and went to the front door. He thanked the delivery guy and pulled a five out of his pocket to tip him, shutting the door once he left. "We have pizza!"

Jack quickly got to his feet. "Whoo! Excellent timing." Man, he hadn't even seen the pizza yet and it smelled awesome. Judging purely by the smell, he had a feeling pizza was gonna be one of his favorite foods. He was eager to have a slice now.

Mark set the pizzas on the coffee table and carefully moved it back in place. "Water, right?" Mark asked, moving towards the kitchen to get drinks.

"You know what? Surprise me, " Jack called after him. He sat down on the couch, waiting on Mark to return with his drink before getting any pizza. He was slightly more thirsty than hungry at the moment so the pizza could wait long enough for him to get a drink.

"Okay!" Mark went to fridge and grabbed a couple sodas, bringing them back to the living room. "Your beverage, monsieur~" Mark bowed and held out the can to him with a cheesy grin.

Chica huffed from her spot on the floor.

Jack chuckled before taking the can. "Why thank you Mr. Iplier~" He said, faking a french accent. Huh, Dr. Pepper, wonder if that's any good. When Chica huffed he stuck his tongue out at her before grinning. "Don't be such a spoil sport Chica, we're just goofing off."

Chica shook her head and walked off to grab a toy to chew on and let out her frustrations on it.

Mark chuckled and set his own can down, unplugging his phone and setting up the tv. "Any particular preference in movies?"

"Not really, I'm pretty much good with anything." He thought for a moment before adding, "Just nothing that has whaling in it, okay?" It was probably an odd request but he'd rather not risk a potential panic attack. Jack opened his soda and took a sip. It was good, not quite as good as root beer had been but he definitely liked it.

"That's an... odd request, but I'm pretty sure I don't own anything like that, so no worries there." Mark couldn't help but think that was oddly specific, but then again, Jack did have an obvious aversion to harpoons in Happy Wheels... Maybe that had something to do with it? He looked through his movies and picked out a Disney movie. It had been a while, so why not? He put it in and hit play, sitting on the couch and popping open his soda. "Let's see..." He opened the top box, "That one's definitely your's." He handed Jack the box and opened his own, pulling out a slice.

"Thanks. So, what did you put in?" Jack said, taking the box. He pulled out a slice and took a bite. His eyes lit up in amazement. Holy mother of balls! Pizza rocked! Pineapple on pizza rocked! He finished that slice in less than two minutes.

"The Little Mermaid. Haven't watched it in a while," Mark glanced over at him and chuckled, his nose wrinkled slightly. "How can you eat pineapple pizza and be that excited about it?" He took a bite of his own pizza as the movie started.

The Little Mermaid? Oh jeez. That was one hell of a coincidence. "I've never had it before! I think it's amazing!" He said, taking a sip of his soda again before grabbing another slice of pizza. Jack went quiet at first for the beginning, knowing all too well how that fish felt. He smiled when it got away. He had to keep from snorting in laughter when it came to the underwater theater scene. Was that really how humans saw merpeople? They ate fish, they didn't sing with them. And their tails had a lot more variety and were often much prettier than the ones in the movie.

"Bleh! You can have your pineapple pizza," He chuckled slightly, "I prefer a good meat lover's or classic pepperoni myself." Mark glanced over at him when he sounded like he'd held in laughter. "Careful, might go up your nose you snort too hard." It was at least nice to see Jack enjoying himself. Seemed like the poor guy was always nervous or unsure about everything. In some ways, Jack made him think of a kid trying new things for the first time, a lot of which were things Mark was used to seeing or having every day. It was... kinda cute, he had to admit.

Jack rolled his eyes, a smile on his face. He perked up in interest when Ariel was trying to escape the shark. That was so cool! There weren't very many near Ireland, it was too cold for them, and he had had the luck not to run into any on the long trip here. Though he was confident he could out swim one, he had been the fastest merperson in his pod. He could appreciate how fascinated Ariel was with humans and their stuff, he had always been interested himself.

Mark wasn't sure if he should watch the movie, or watch Jack's reactions to it. They were just as entertaining, in his opinion. "Have you ever seen this movie before?" He asked with a smile.

Jack shook his head. "Nope. My family didn't really have a lot money so it was rare for us to get to watch any movies," He said. He snorted again when it got to the scene where the seagull called a fork a dinglehopper. Not only did the word sound dirty but even he knew what a fork was. Sometimes, on the smaller boats that would pass through his pods territory, there would be people eating, so he had seen them used even before he started living on land.

"Well that opens up my entire library of movies and then some!" Mark chuckled, "I'll have to take you to a theater sometime. Some movies are way better on the big screen." Mark finished his slice and grabbed another.

"Cool, that sounds like it would be fun." Jack grabbed a third piece of pizza after he finished his second one. When it got to Ariel giving her voice in exchange for legs he got a little upset. Not only was it an unfair trade, but how could she give up her beautiful voice?! And for someone she literally knew nothing about. He had no choice when it came to losing the magic his voice held, and he wanted it back more than anything. Losing such a big part of himself had been heartbreaking.

Mark noticed the look on Jack's face and wondered if maybe this wasn't a good one to put on while they eat. He glanced at the scar on Jack's neck. Technically, Jack wasn't just lucky he was alive and breathing, he was also lucky he still had a voice even if he thought it wasn't as good as it used to be.

Jack was okay with the rest of the movie, at least, he was till they got to the part where Ursula was in disguise and used Ariel's voice to enchant Eric. The effect on Eric was quite similar to what a siren could do, what he used to be able to do. His hand automatically raised to his neck as he was once again reminded of what he had lost. He closed his eyes, shaking slightly as tried not to think about it. He really needed to just get over it already. It had been nearly six months since his throat got cut, he ought to be able to just let it go by now. But he couldn't.

"...Hey," Mark set his food down and scooted closer, "Everything alright?" He'd happened to glance over when Jack had touched his scar and he was worried he might be upset. "I can turn this off, if you want."

Jack shook his head. "No, go ahead and leave it on. I need to learn to get over this. I have to stop being such a wimp and getting upset every time I come across even the smallest reminder. I'm never gonna be able to get on with my life if I don't."

"Alright. If you're sure." Mark stayed put, keeping his eyes on Jack for now. He'd seen the movie several times, there was no need to focus on it. He just hoped Jack would be okay.

Jack was fine with the rest of the movie. Other then those two things, it actually wasn't all that bad. Not very accurate, but he couldn't exactly blame the people who made it. Can't be very accurate if the subject matter is hiding away from the world.

"So, what did you think of it?" Mark asked, standing up to change out movies. He'd seemed calm for the rest of it, so it couldn't have been too bad.

"It was decent, though I think I got 'Under the Sea' stuck in my head now." And from what Jack had seen on land so far, it was not 'better down where it's wetter'. There was so much amazing stuff on land, so many things to do.

Mark chuckled, "It's catchy, huh? Most Disney movie songs are really good."

"So, what are you gonna put in now?" Jack was interested in seeing what else movies had to offer.

"Pirates Of The Carribean, aargh!" Mark said, playfully imitating a pirate. "I'm feeling sea themed today, I don't know," He chuckled. "Done with your pizza or still eating?" He sat back down next to him.

"Oooh~ Sounds cool! And yeah, I'm done. I can always have the rest for lunch tomorrow." Pirates were cool, there were a couple old pirate shipwrecks near his pods territory, some of which had been sunk by past generations of sirens. They didn't really sink ships anymore, at least his pod didn't. They just lead ships away till they were out of the area.

"Alright," Mark closed up the pizza boxes, "I'll be right back." He darted off to the kitchen to put the boxes in the fridge for later.

Jack drank some of his soda while he waited for Mark to get back. He went over the song Mark wanted him to sing tomorrow in his head, humming it quietly to help get a feel for it. He rubbed his legs together absentmindedly. He wanted to get another bath tonight. Now that he had the luxury of being able to bathe whenever he wanted, he wanted to do that every other day, mostly so he could just be himself for a little bit. He liked being human but he just didn't feel fully comfortable as one. He felt more relaxed as himself, as a merman. He hoped that would get better with time though, as he got more used to living as a human.

Mark came back, ruffling Chica's fur, and sitting back down to hit play. "So, this movie is newer and has more action in it. Also, pirates."

"That last point is kinda obvious, it's got pirates in the name after all." Jack figured out pretty quickly that he loved the Captain Jack Sparrow guy, he was hilarious! The action music was pretty epic. "Oh! That's so cool!" He said when Blackbeard controlled the ship with a magic sword.

"Could you imagine everything you could do with a sword like that?" Mark asked enthusiastically, "It would be so cool to have something like that! Wouldn't even have to be a sword."

"It'd be cooler if it controlled more than ships though. Doesn't have much use away from one. But yeah, you'd be able to control a huge ship all by yourself if you wanted to, maybe even more than one ship if others are close enough. How cool would it be to control an entire fleet of ships with no one but yourself and a sword or whatever?" Jack answered.

"You could scare the shit out of people controlling an entire fleet alone! Probably even win before you reached them, depending on the people on board. You could trick them into thinking they're manned by ghosts!" Mark replied.

"Fear can play a big part in winning a battle. Ghost ships would definitely cause a lot of fear since you can't hurt someone that's already dead." When they mentioned needing to catch a mermaid for a tear Jack had to do his best to keep his expression neutral. Really?! Both movies Mark put in had merpeople in them?! Seems like luck was fucking with him again.

"It's kind of interesting," Mark started after the mermaid was mentioned, "This movie's also done by Disney, but the interpretation of mermaids in this is different from the last movie." He hadn't actually planned on watching two mermaid movies in a row, he'd just grabbed movies and put them in; it just happened to work out that way.

"Oh really? Well I guess I'll just have to wait and see how different they are." Eventually, it got to the scene where everyone was in the little boats trying to attract a mermaid. The way everyone got spellbound by their beauty when they showed up instantly reminded Jack of how people react to sirens. Even without singing, sirens had a quality to them that naturally drew people in. He had it too, though it was diluted since he was a male. Now that he thought about it, that might be at least partially why people liked him in Mark's video. He visibly stiffened when the blonde mermaid suddenly sported fangs. It was unnerving that the people who had made the movie got two important details like that correct. He quickly relaxed when he realized he had gone stiff, hopefully Mark would just think it had startled him or something.

Mark noticed him go stiff briefly, figuring it had made him jump, and chuckled slightly. "Didn't expect that, huh? I honestly kinda like this version better. They seem more like a separate species, rather than just humans with fish tails, you know?"

"Heh, yeah I agree with you there. This version feels a lot more realistic." Jack had to keep from wincing when the priest stuck his sword in the tail fin of the mermaid he found. That part of the tail was quite delicate and had extra nerves to sense subtle changes in the water so it was very sensitive to pain.

"A lot more believable, that's for sure. Still not sure on the singing, but could be possible."

Oh it was very possible, not that he could tell him that. Nothing special about their tears though, that was a complete myth. Jack felt bad for the mermaid when the pirates nearly caused her to suffocate in that glass carrier. Just because they were fish-like didn't mean they didn't need air. Yes, they could get oxygen from water but the amount in the carrier was not enough to provide oxygen for very long. Plus, they actually had to breathe the water in, not just sit in it like she was.

"Leave it to pirates to treat the most important part of the whole trip like crap," Mark muttered. He might not be a huge fan of the ocean, in fact it frightened him, it was still cruel to treat any creature like a mere item rather than actually care about it. Especially since they needed her alive in the first place. Then again, he'd seen this before, so maybe they'd done that on purpose.

Jack nodded in agreement. That was probably the treatment he could've looked forward to if those whalers had succeeded in taking him. He didn't want to think about what would've awaited him if he had gotten sold. His eyes widened in amazement when all the mermaids tore Barbosa's ship apart. "Now those are some fucking badass mermaids!" Damn, he wished he wished merfolk were capable of doing stuff like that. Be much easier to defend themselves against hostile creatures if they could.

Mark chuckled. "Right? As if the ocean wasn't scary enough. And now he's out of a ship. If mermaids were real and anything like this, I'd have way more to be afraid of.."

Jack went quiet for a second when Mark said that. Would he be afraid of him then? "Wait, you're afraid of the ocean?" He asked after a moment.

"Yeah, I am!" Mark had tried his best to hide it earlier whenever the camera would duck under the water, which was easier with something to focus on. "It's vast, deep, dark, and there's no way of knowing what's underneath you! Like sharks or some other big thing that could gobble you up in one big bite!" He shuddered at the thought, "That's not even including that the ocean without big predators is still a big cold bowl of death that's easy to drown in."

He could understand the part about getting eaten, but drowning was something he never had to worry about. "I guess those are good reasons." Mark probably didn't go swimming at the beach then. He turned his attention back to the movie. When Sirena got legs due to no longer being in water, he froze again, curling his legs up to himself nervously. While it took longer than what was shown, the way her tail changed to legs was quite similar to how Jack's did. That was three things now that this movie had gotten eerily accurate.

"And there's another thing," Mark said, continuing the discussion from earlier, "If mermaids were real and could actually split their tails into legs, they could very well be living on land for all we know, as human as they look."

Jack, who had grabbed his soda to get a drink, nearly choked when Mark said that. He had to cough for few moments before answering. "Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing is it? Some might be nice. Maybe some are on land because they have no where else to go?"

Mark turned his head toward Jack when he coughed, a bit surprised by that reaction. "Well... yeah, there is that chance, I guess. There'd be no way of knowing for sure, though, without meeting one. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Some of the soda just went down the wrong pipe." Jeez, it was a good thing Mark wasn't a more suspicious person. If he started questioning why only the mermaid stuff was freaking him out Jack could be in big trouble.

"Ouch. That's not fun." Mark grimaced. Soda was not comfortable going down the wrong way or going up the nose.

"No, it most definitely isn't." It would have been fine if it was water because the gills in Jack's windpipe could filter that out. But soda fucking burned like hell. The rest of the movie was pretty good, though he had no idea how the hell dragging the priest to the bottom of the ocean was supposed to save him. Why on earth did Sirena think that was a good idea?

"I think we're supposed to assume that... maybe she turned him into a merman to save him in that one scene?" Mark thought out loud, "I'm not really sure what the idea was behind that. And in any case, I'm not even sure how that would work." It was really confusing and probably one of the few things in the movie that didn't make sense to him. It wasn't like the idea behind a werewolf or vampire, she didn't exactly bite him.

Jack shrugged. "I guess. Maybe her and the other mermaids have some sort of magic they can use together to do it?" That's the only reasonable explanation he could come up with. It would be cool if something like that was possible, but as far as he knew, no one had ever tried. So it was unknown if it was. There were stories, but they were so old no one knew if they were true. Though, if it was possible, sirens would probably be the ones that could since they already had the magic that affected their voices.

"Hmm... perhaps. I guess we'll never know." They watched a few more movies before eventually having dinner and went to bed, Jack practicing the song for tomorrow a little before heading to sleep himself.

 

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_~Darkness was all Jack could see, static ringing in his ears. A distorted, high pitched laugh sounded in the distance. He jumped when a raspy voice that sounded like his own suddenly whispered in his ear. "You think you can hide your true nature forever?" He whipped around when a weird electronic screech was heard behind him. His eyes widened when a figure glitched into existence, the head twitching. The person looked like him, but the scar on his neck was torn open and bleeding, and the irises were glowing bright green like his did when he used his siren magic, except the figure's sclera was black and its hair was spiked up as well as black gauges in his ears. The figure's lips turned up in a fanged smirk._

_"He's gonna find out what you are eventually you know. You can't hide it forever. And when he does, he's gonna hate you, think you tricked him. Sirens are the bad ones in human stories remember? And then you're gonna get sent away somewhere to dissected or experimented on. Maybe kept as some exotic pet," He spoke in the same raspy voice from earlier, the pitch occasionally getting higher or lower. Jack shook his head vehemently, not wanting to believe it. Mark was so nice, the thought of him doing something like that, he wouldn't, would he?_

_"You've been lying to him. How do you think he'll feel when he finds that out? He'll abandon you, just like your pod did! Just accept it, you'll always be alone, no one cares about the poor siren that lost his power," The person continued, glitching now and again, neck twisting at odd angles, sometimes snarling in rage, other times yanking at it's hair and laughing like a madman. "No!" Jack shouted, tears streaming down his face. Mark promised, he promised he wouldn't be alone again._

_"You deny that he would do such a thing, and yet you are too afraid to tell him. Stop lying to yourself! You fear that all I have said will come true and you know it! You're weak! Your pod was right to abandon you! You're a pathetic excuse for a siren!" The figure glitched more the angrier it got, eyes turning completely black. A knife had appeared in it's hands and was pointed at him threateningly. Jack cowered, terrified. "See?! Weak! Frightened by the demons in your head. But it's not me you should be afraid of." ~_

 

Jack woke with a start. Another nightmare? It was so vivid, no way would he able to go back sleep just yet. He got his feet and decided to look around the room a little since he hadn't fully acquainted himself with it yet. When he opened the closet he was surprised to find an odd cube shaped plushie with big blue eyes and little arms with mitten hands sitting in a box. He pulled it out and was surprised by how soft it was. Holding it close was surprisingly comforting so he slipped back into bed with it, hugging it tightly as he gradually fell back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kentucky Fried Bitch was my idea. While the gameplay I write is based on his actual videos I added Kentucky Fried Bitch in for a little extra comedy. The kiss thing is based on something I saw that said holding your breath can help stop a panic attack and that kissing causes people to hold their breath. ~Fox
> 
> Links:
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> [Reference for Jack's siren features](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/post/165908642301/ref-for-sirenjacks-tail-and-arm-fins-decided)
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> [Fan Art made by my co-author Silvererros](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/175294391058/a-sirens-kiss-with-and-without-glow-just)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's tailfin shape](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/159595842823/more-fanfiction-fanart-i-keep-running-into)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's genitalia in merman form](http://silvererros18andover.tumblr.com/post/174135603375/its-mermay-bring-on-the-lovin-dark-and-jack)
> 
> [Spotify Playlist for this story](https://open.spotify.com/user/8q0elo21l6iicpg6uq4vhr9nd/playlist/6YzyDiC867sxq9uGuMEfPp?si=JallrKXUTrOcGCclrWC-Vw)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is late, things got really busy so i wasn't able to get it finished in time. ~Fox

The next morning, Mark had already been awake for some time. He'd recorded a short video, had a small breakfast, taken Chica outside for a bit, but he hadn't seen Jack come down yet. It worried him a bit. Usually Jack was up not long after him. He didn't want to bother him, but... maybe he should check. He made his way back upstairs and quietly opened the door to Jack's room, seeing him in bed with his back turned to the door. Was he still asleep?

A soft snore emitted from Jack and he rolled over. A little bead of drool hung from his slightly open mouth and his mostly bright green hair was fluffy due to a bad case of bedhead. The plushie was still clutched tightly in his arms. He was definitely still asleep. He hadn't slept this well in a while.

Now that was an adorable sight. He'd almost forgotten about that Tim plush. Looked like Jack liked it. Mark pulled out his phone and switched to his camera, zooming in on him. He turned down the volume on his phone and took a picture of him. ~ _Maybe I should let him sleep in. He looks like he really needed it,_ ~ he thought.

After a few moments, Jack's eyes fluttered open, a yawn escaping him. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Mark standing there. "Oh crap. Did I sleep in? Sorry, I woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble falling back to sleep. This little guy helped though. I hope you don't mind that I got him out," He said.

Mark tucked his phone away when Jack stirred. "You did sleep in, but it's okay. You clearly needed it. I'm glad Tim could help you sleep."

Jack sat up and stretched. "Tim huh? So that's his name. What exactly is Tim supposed to be anyway?" He asked before getting to his feet. He went over to his dresser to figure out what he wanted to wear today.

"A tiny box," Mark chuckled. "Tiny Box Tim. It's a character I made up while rambling on during a game play-through. My fans were so entertained by it that he quickly became my mascot. He's really cute, I get different versions of him from time to time."

"It's kinda funny, you wouldn't think a box would be cute. He definitely is though," Jack replied. He pulled out a long sleeved, red shirt and some blue jeans, slipping them on. Since he was gonna be doing that cover video with Mark today he put his choker on. He didn't mind Mark seeing his scar but he wasn't ready for anyone else to yet.

"He is. So, let's get you fed, shall we? And then we can look into that cover today." Mark opened the bedroom door more to let him through.

"Alright," Jack said, going through the door. He ran his fingers through his hair to try and bring the floofiness down a little. "Is there anything interesting you wanted to do for the cover or is it just gonna stay simple?" He asked, heading downstairs. He didn't know if people did anything to add flare to cover videos or if they just played their part and put it up.

"Besides having more than one camera set up to allow for different angles when I edit, it'll be pretty simple." Mark followed him down to the kitchen, "I don't want to distract from the actual music too much, if I can. Unless you had something in mind?"

Jack shook his head. "No, I just wanted to be prepared if you were planning something. I don't really know how it all works so I figured I would ask. So, is it still breakfast time or did I sleep in super late?" He hadn't checked the clock so he wasn't sure if it was past noon yet. If it was he could have his leftover pizza for lunch like he said he would yesterday.

"You slept in pretty late. It's almost one." Mark went ahead and pulled out their leftovers from yesterday. "We can heat some of our pizza up for lunch."

"Jeez, I must have been a lot more tired than I thought I was. And that's fine, I was planning on having that for lunch anyway. You gonna heat it up in the oven or are we just gonna use the microwave? I'm good either way." Jack's arm got a little itchy near his tattoo so he scratched at it absentmindedly.

"How hungry are you?" Mark chuckled, "Microwave would be faster." He noticed him scratch at his arm but didn't think anything of it, for now.

"Microwave then. Sleeping through breakfast has got me pretty hungry," Jack replied. As if on cue his stomach growled. He chuckled. "I guess my stomach agrees on using the microwave."

Mark chuckled. "Microwave it is then. How many slices do you want?" he asked, grabbing out two plates for them. It honestly wasn't surprising that his stomach was growling. It was a good sign, though, to see his appetite was better than it had been.

"Uh, three or four." For someone with a swimmer's figure, narrow shouldered and lean muscled, Jack had a big appetite. It was a result of living in the water. Swimming so much burned a lot of calories and his metabolism hadn't gotten used to living on land yet so it still burned through his food rather quickly.

"You must be really hungry," Mark chuckled, "Sure, no problem." He arranged three slices on Jack's plate and heated his up first.

"I've always had a big appetite. I was pretty active as a kid and up until coming here I used to swim a lot so I've developed a habit of eating a lot to make up for what I burn off," Jack explained.

"Makes sense. Does explain your lean build." He handed him his plate when it was done and got his own going. "Think you've got a lock down on the song?"

He gladly took his plate when it was done in the microwave. He nodded before saying, "Yeah, I think I have it. I'm all ready to go whenever you are."

Mark took out his plate when it finished. "I figure we can do it sometime after lunch. I'll have to set up everything anyway. Maybe pick a good spot somewhere around the house to record."

Jack nodded. "Alright, sounds good to me. If there's anything I can do to help set up, just let me know," he said. He took a seat at the table and started eating. He had no idea how Mark didn't like pineapple on pizza, it was so good. Sunlight was reflecting off the pool in just the right manner again, casting rippling lines of light.

Mark stared at him for a moment, watching how the light danced over his face. He looked amazing in that lighting, every time he saw him. What was it about the light reflecting off the water? "...I think I know where I want to set up for the video."

"Hmm?" He swallowed the piece of pizza in his mouth before speaking. "Oh yeah? Where do you want to do it?" Jack asked. He noticed Mark had been staring again. He hoped his natural siren charm wasn't affecting Mark, he'd hate for that to be the reason Mark had been so nice.

"Well, I was thinking of setting up outside near the pool. Just close enough to catch the light reflecting off the water." Mark ate a bite of his pizza. "I think it could give the video a good atmosphere. What do you think?"

Jack froze when Mark mentioned the pool. "U-um, how close?" He asked nervously. Scenarios of falling in ran through his head. If he fell in his secret would be blown, Mark would find out what he was.

"Well, we'll have to test out different spots to see what works best, determine if an extra light might be needed. So I'm not quite sure how close," Mark answered.

"Well... as long as I'm not close enough that I can fall in, I'm good with that idea," Jack said after a few moments of thinking it over. Hopefully he'd be able to forget about his proximity to the pool once they started recording.

"Shouldn't be a problem. We'll do a practice run once we're set up, just to make sure everything's working and looks good. Let's focus on food though, first."

"Alright," Jack said before turning his attention back to eating. He was quiet while they finished their lunch, just thinking about various things. His thoughts kept drifting to the dream he had. As much as hated to admit it, he was afraid of how Mark would react if he found out what he was. At the same time, he felt guilty for not telling him.

 

Once they were done eating, Mark washed the plates and set to work. He had Jack help him carry down stands, cameras, and two mics outside. For the sake of the equipment, since no one would be holding the cameras, they left Chica inside so they could set up. Mark brought over two fold up chairs to the poolside and set them up. "Okay, sit here and we'll see if the light reflects here."

Jack nodded, eyeing the pool warily as he sat down. "This look good?" He asked after he had got himself comfortable. He tried not to focus on how close to the water he was, keeping his eyes on Mark. He wasn't going to fall in, not as long as he was careful.

"Hmm..." Mark stepped back to take a look and see. "I think we might be able to back up a little bit, actually. Let me get your opinion." He sat down in the other chair. The light was going to be on both of them, so it didn't hurt to get a second opinion. "What do you think?"

Jack bit his lip in thought. As much as he was loathe to get any closer to the pool than he had to, Mark was right. It would look better if they backed up a little more. "I think you're right, a little bit closer should be good," He said after a moment. Please don't let this be a decision he would regret.

Mark nodded and got up, scooting the chair back towards the pool a bit. "Alright. Let's get the mics and cameras set up. Then we can practice real quick and get started."

"Okay," Jack said, getting to his feet and moving the chair so it lined up with Mark's. He then helped Mark get everything set up. It took a little bit but eventually it was all ready. "So, you said you wanted to do a practice run before we actually start recording? " He asked, sitting down in his chair.

"Yeah, to warm up a little, work out any kinks." Mark grabbed his guitar from where he stashed it earlier and sat on his chair, taking a moment to tune it. He gave it a strum and nodded, satisfied with the sound. With the cameras already recording, he played a little of the song. "So far so good. Ready?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, sure. You start off since the music plays a little first before the actual singing starts." He closed his eyes and started nodding his head once Mark started playing. Once it got to his cue to began singing.

"I feel a little lost in this world. I try a little noise and choke. I've honestly never felt this alone. Oh I just need someone. I need a little room to breathe. You're making this harder for me. When all I need is to be set free. I need a little time to think. And if you ever really loved me, then all I need is a little room to breathe. I've been through and seen a lot. Lived at the bottom and the top. We're on borrowed time, but time isn't enough. I'm just trying to be the best me I can be. When I fall down, it's me and the ground. I am no king. I have no throne. I need a little room to breathe. You're making this harder for me. When all I need is to be set free. I need a little time to think. And if you ever really loved me, then all I need is a little room to breathe."

Jack went quiet for the music solo before picking up again. "I need a little room to breathe. You're making this harder for me. When all I need is to be set free. I need a little time to think. And if you ever really loved me, then all I need is little room to breathe. Room to breathe. Room to breathe. All I need is a little room to breathe. "

Mark normally would've been nervous and stumbling over a few notes here and there while recording a cover. But with Jack's singing, he found himself able to play through it without much trouble. By the end of it, Mark realized he was staring and had to tear his eyes away. What was wrong with him? He kept staring at Jack on and off, that had to be weird for him. "That sounded great!"

Jack smiled brightly. He had gotten caught up in singing so he hadn't noticed Mark staring. "It did? Awesome! So, are we ready to do it for real then?" At this point he had gotten comfortable being close to pool, more concerned with doing the cover for real. It was fun, singing for the sake of sharing something he liked to do with others rather than for manipulation or sorting out his thoughts.

"Yeah! Let's do this." Mark felt more confident with this cover than he ever had. He waited a moment, for editing purposes, and started playing the song again.

Jack waited for his cue and started singing again. Since it wasn't just a practice run this time, he put a lot more feeling and effort into it now. He thought Mark was doing fairly well with his guitar. Quite frankly, he wanted to try his hand at playing an instrument himself. As a siren he'd be able to learn how to use anything music related pretty quickly, but he was trying to figure out specifically what he wanted to play. He was considering drums, something that could keep his hands and feet busy.

Mark was able to get into the song more this time around, effectively matching Jack's emotion with his own. He smiled at him as they finished up and stayed quiet for a moment. "That was even better than the practice."

"Heh, I put a lot more into it now that we were doing it for real. Sounded like you did the same," Jack said, smiling back. He really enjoyed that. He'd definitely be willing to record another cover with him if Mark ever asked him to again. Maybe he'd do one for his own channel at some point.

"Yeah, well, you were so into it and for once I had confidence doing it. I'm usually real nervous when I do covers. It takes me several takes to get a decent one. But man..." Mark grinned at him, "I don't even think we need more than that."

"A little confidence can go a long way. Glad to know you think it turned out so well. I really had a lot of fun doing that. If you ever want me to help out with a cover again, I'm all for it," Jack said, smiling brightly.

"Pretty sure I will. I'll let you know the next time I want to do one," Mark chuckled.

"Great! So, was there anything else you wanted to do while this stuff is out here or should we start bringing it all back inside?" Jack didn't want to be close to the pool any longer than he had to be.

"I didn't really have anything else in mind for the day, so we should be good to take everything inside. Unless you feel like swimming," Mark joked, standing up and turning everything off. They could do something else, though he wasn't sure what.

Chica huffed at the door, watching them.

"S-swimming? No thank you. I've already had one bad experience swimming in L.A. and I do not plan on ever risking another, " He said, getting to his feet. Jack glanced at Chica. "We'll be in in a minute Chica. We need to carry stuff in." He got to work helping Mark take everything back inside.

Chica could tell that Jack seemed nervous around the pool. Could water be his weakness? It must be. She could save her master! She just needed to wait for them to be around the pool again.

 

Once everything was in, Mark sat down to do some editing. There wasn't much he needed to do with it, other than decide what shot he should switch to here and there. Once he had everything edited together in a way he thought looked decent, he played it back and watched it in it's entirety. It looked great; the lighting had been a great choice and it was probably the best cover he'd done thus far.

While Mark was editing the video Jack sat on the couch watching t.v. Though he was mostly just thinking. His mind continually returned to that dream, and the guilt he felt for not telling Mark he's a siren. He was such a good guy, maybe even a friend, but fear kept him silent. He could only hope that if Mark ever did find out, one way or another, Mark wouldn't react the way he feared he would.

Mark finished up and posted it. Probably wouldn't take long to see comments on it. He went back downstairs and sat next to him. "Watching anything good?" He asked.

"Hmm? Oh, uh I guess. Wasn't really paying attention, kinda got lost in my thoughts. I think something called Friends is on," He answered. Jack thought it looked interesting since the two dudes had a duck and a chicken living in their tiny apartment.

Mark chuckled, "That's a good one. What were you thinking about?"

"Just random stuff, like what I want to do for the first video for my channel that isn't a collab with you, whether or not I want to try learning how to play drums, it all just jumbles together," Jack lied. He couldn't exactly tell him what he was really thinking about.

"That could be interesting, learning drums. You do that, and we could start a band." Mark nudged him gently with a grin. "I've got several games you can record, if you want. Or we could look up some for you specifically. You have tons of options. Well, except anything by Nintendo. They do not like Youtubers much."

Jack chuckled. "A two person band would be kinda small wouldn't it? I was thinking about maybe doing Happy Wheels or finishing FNAF since I really had fun with those." Though he'd have to avoid any harpoon levels while playing Happy Wheels, at least till he was more comfortable with them.

"Those are a good place to start. You'll be able to branch out from there, easily." The show went to commercials while they talked, one of which was a for a local sushi bar that had opened a month ago. "Actually, I just thought of another video you could help me with. I'm wanting to do this video where we just try out a bunch of sushi. I've been wanting to try it out, but no one's been willing to do it with me. And since you mentioned you and your family ate a lot of fish, usually, I was wondering if you'd want to do that with me."

"Sure, sounds like fun. But I get the feeling we won't just be eating sushi. Was there something else you planned on doing for the sushi video?" Not that Jack would mind either way. Sushi was essentially just fancy raw fish wasn't it? He'd have no problem with it then.

"Uh, yeah actually.." Mark grinned, feeling a little guilty for not explaining it outright, "So we'll be eating sushi, but if we spit it out for any reason, we have to dump ice water on our heads. Or something like it. So we'll have to be outside for it."

"I can handle a little cold water. I'm definitely in," Jack said, grinning. The seas around Ireland weren't exactly the warmest waters. So he was used to a little cold. Though if they used a lot of ice it might bother him. Still, it'd probably be a lot of fun.

"Awesome! Thanks, Jack." Mark grinned. This would be a fun one, he was sure of it. Granted, he already knew Jack would do better than him at it, but who knows? Maybe there would be ones he wouldn't like.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------

 

That night, Jack had trouble sleeping. He had gotten lost in his thoughts again and the guilt he felt was really getting to him. He sighed and sat up. "I need some air," He muttered under his breath. He got to his feet and headed downstairs, slipping quietly into the back yard. He sat down on the patio a few feet from the pool and crossed his arms over his knees, resting his chin on his arms. He stared at the moonlight dancing on the water for a while in silence.

Eventually, the lyrics to a song that sort of described his thoughts came to his head and Jack started singing. Singing about whatever he was feeling sometimes helped get his thoughts together, helped him cope if the thoughts weren't very good. The song didn't fit exactly, but he felt like it sorta described how Mark might see him if he found out he's a siren, and it described his fear that Mark would hate him for being one and never saying anything, that Mark would think he tricked him and used him.

Mark had been up editing videos again with his headset on. He finished up what he'd been working on and set it up to upload tomorrow afternoon. While he waited to make sure it uploaded properly, he checked on the comments for their cover. They were mainly positive, a lot of them commenting on how he seemed more confident this time and on how good Jack's singing voice is. "I'll have to show him this tomorrow," he muttered to himself. His stomach growled loudly as he sat there. "Damn," He took off his headset and got up, "Late night snack shouldn't hurt."

He made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, looking through the cabinets. Mark paused for a moment when he heard someone singing outside and glanced over at the sliding glass door. He could see Jack sitting by the pool. Why was he up? And outside? He abandoned his search for the moment and walked over to the door. It was shut completely and he listened to him sing. It sounded... almost sad... or like he was scared of something. Did he have another nightmare?

Mark slid the door open and strolled outside, not really caring that he was in just his boxer's at the moment. They were both guys. "Hey," He sat down next to him, "What are you doing up?"

Jack glanced back when he heard the door open. "Couldn't sleep. Got lost in my own head and now I can't stop worrying about something. And, to be honest, it's something I haven't told you, something important. I feel so guilty about it but I'm also absolutely terrified about what might happen if I do tell you. If you're not as good as you seem and I tell you then I'm screwed, I'll be taken away and probably never get to live a normal life again. Or you could hate me for not saying anything, think I tricked you, and abandon me just like my family did. That terrifies me so much," he said, tears welling in his eyes and his voice wavering at the end. He hadn't meant to say so much, it kinda just spilled out.

Geez...no wonder Jack couldn't sleep. "Hey, hey," he wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "It's okay. I would never abandon you like that, whatever the reason. I promised you'd never be alone or uncared for ever again, remember? I'm not about to break that promise." Mark smiled at him reassuringly, "Also, everyone's entitled to keeping some secrets to themselves. From the way your acting about it, I doubt you're out to hurt me or take advantage of me in some way. Whatever it is, don't let it eat at you. If you want to tell me, you can, if you don't, that's fine too. I'm not sure who you think would take you away, that might just be you overthinking things a little bit." Mark wiped at Jack's eyes lightly with his thumb, wiping away any tears that might fall. "You'll be okay."

"Thank you. Hearing you say that is really reassuring. I'm not really ready to tell you yet, but maybe I will eventually. Just... promise to keep this conversation in mind when I do okay?" Jack said after a few moments.

"No problem, Jack." Mark gave him a pat on the back and stood. "Well, anyway, I came down for a snack. I'll let you be, if you want."

Jack got to his feet and stretched. "I'm probably just gonna try and get some sleep. I'll see ya in the morning," he said.

"I'll see ya."

He headed inside and back up to his room. He was able to fall asleep now and thankfully his dreams were pleasant ones.

Mark grabbed a small snack and something to drink, heading back to his room to finish up. Once he was done, he laid down to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Jack sings at the end of the chapter is Hate Me by Escape the Fate and is in tbe Spotify playlist for tbis story.
> 
> Links:
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> [Reference for Jack's siren features](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/post/165908642301/ref-for-sirenjacks-tail-and-arm-fins-decided)
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> [Fan Art made by my co-author Silvererros](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/175294391058/a-sirens-kiss-with-and-without-glow-just)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's tailfin shape](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/159595842823/more-fanfiction-fanart-i-keep-running-into)
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> [Reference for Jack's genitalia in merman form](http://silvererros18andover.tumblr.com/post/174135603375/its-mermay-bring-on-the-lovin-dark-and-jack)
> 
> [Spotify Playlist for this story](https://open.spotify.com/user/8q0elo21l6iicpg6uq4vhr9nd/playlist/6YzyDiC867sxq9uGuMEfPp?si=JallrKXUTrOcGCclrWC-Vw)
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>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter would have come out sooner, but something came up that left me in a bad mental state for a few days. Not gonna go into it cuz I don't want to cause trouble for the people involved. ~Fox

"Hello everybody! My name's Markiplier, and welcome," Mark flipped his hair dramatically for the camera, "to the Sleeping with the Fishes challenge. Today, I'm joined by my good friend, Jacksepticeye," he gestured to Jack, "who will be participating in this lovely challenge I made up."

Jack grinned. "Top of the mornin' to ya laddies! So, care to explain what the challenge is Mark?" he said excitedly. Since there was a chance he would get wet, he wasn't wearing shoes or socks and was clothed in some red sweatpants and a white t-shirt with a laughing cartoon cat on it.

Mark himself was in a pair of blue swim shorts and a white tee, standing barefoot on his patio. "I would love to~ SO!" He clapped and rubbed his hands together, "For today's challenge, we are taste testing sushi. I have never really had legit sushi, so this is going to be interesting. Off to the side here we've set up a fold-up table and have a large tray of various sushi items," He gestured over at the table.

"On this tray is two of everything. Some of which we made ourselves... boy was that fun," he chuckled, "And the rest I ordered from a local sushi bar so we'd have more variety... and so we know how badly we fucked up our's. The goal of this challenge is to eat a piece of sushi and swallow it. If you spit it out, for ANY reason... you get a bucket of ice water dumped over your head. Hence why we're outside by the pool. All the buckets are filled and stashed under the table so we don't trip on 'em or anything remotely dangerous. 'Cause, y'know, safety is always important on my channel." Mark looked at Jack, "So. Anything you want to add before we dig in to all that fish?"

"Just that I hope my weird gag reflex isn't a bitch today while we do this. I'm all ready when you are," Jack said, giving him a thumbs up. Seriously, his gag reflex was weird, he'd start gagging just from doing this one weird voice he could do.

Mark returned the thumbs up. "Alright then! Let's get started. Oh boy..."

Chica laid nearby watching everything. The door was open so she could go in and out, but she didn't feel right leaving Mark's side today, if she could help it.

Mark picked one up that seemed like a safe one to start with. At least, he hoped so. "So if I remember right," Mark handed Jack the napkin with his sushi on it, and then picked up his own. It was a little rice log with strips of deep pink fish on it, "The little to-go box this came in had the word 'toro' written on it. I will say this guys, I did not look up any of the ones that the sushi bar gave us, so I don't really know what this is on top. We're just going for it. We'll probably add a description later, so you'll know as we eat it."

"So we stuff it in on the count of three right?" Jack asked, taking the toro Mark handed him. Frankly he didn't recognize half of the fish the various sushi used. With how much sushi they had it was a good thing he was hungry.

"Yup. Whole thing on three... and hope it tastes good." Mark picked it up off the napkin, "One.. two.. three." He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth and started chewing. The rice definitely helped with the texture, and once the flavor of the fish hit his mouth he was a bit surprised. It wasn't half bad!

Jack nodded, taking it off the napkin and putting it in his mouth when Mark said three. Huh, kinda buttery. That's interesting, he wasn't expecting a raw fish to taste like butter. He wondered what kind of fish it was. He swallowed once he was done chewing. Well that one was easy.

Mark swallowed and looked at Jack. "That one kind of surprised me. I was expecting fishy, and got butter. How about you?" That was unusually easy to get down, knowing he just ate raw fish. Maybe he played it too safe on that one?

"Yeah, definitely tasted buttery. Not bad though. I'll pick what we eat this time," Jack said. He picked up something called Uni and handed Mark his. "This is called Uni if I remember correctly. Hopefully I pronounced that right. Anyway, on the count of three. One... two... three," He said before popping it in. He made a face, that was not good. If it was just the taste it might not be as bad since he literally used to taste the ocean all the time due to living in it, but the texture made it horrible. He gagged for a moment but somehow managed to get it down though.

Mark popped it in his mouth and almost immediately regretted it, his face contorting in disgust. "UGH!" He tried biting into it but that was a mistake. "Uh-uh, uh-uh, oh no.." He quickly picked up an empty bucket he had sitting near by and spat it out. "Oh god... it's like... chewing the ocean." He spat again, trying to clear the flavor out of his mouth, "Why did I bite?! Why did I do it?! Did you manage to get that down?

Since Jack was currently in the middle of drinking a bottle of water to wash the taste out, he just gave a thumbs up. "Well that was disgusting. How anyone can like that is beyond me. I'm honestly surprised I was able to swallow it. Looks like you get the ice bucket Mark! You going to dump it on yourself or do I get the honors?" He said after he finished washing out his mouth.

"You get the honors," Mark grabbed his own bottle and took a large swig, swishing it around and spitting it out to rinse out the taste. "I don't know how you got that down... okay," he set the bottle down on the table. "Grab a bucket."

Jack kneeled down and got a bucket from under the table. "Bucket grabbed! Sorry dude, but this is gonna be cold," he said before lifting it up and slowly pouring it over Mark.

"I'm prepAAARED! FOR THAT!" Mark tensed up as it went down his back first and then poured over his head. "Eeeeeeh!"

Jack couldn't help but laugh at Mark's reaction. The face he made was priceless.

"Ahh, I know I said I was prepared. But I never can get used to the cold!"

Chica perked up. Something didn't feel right. She noticed a green glint in Jack's eyes as he laughed.

Mark was still shivering from the cold water, but he wasn't reacting anymore. He'd gone very quiet and still, staring straight ahead. His eyes seemed to glow the same green that was in Jack's eyes.

Whatever Jack was doing, she didn't like it. It was doing something to her human.

Jack stopped laughing when he noticed what was happening with Mark. Oh shit. Did he just?

Chica growled and barked at Jack, running over and jumping up, pushing him back with her front paws.

His thought was cut off when she jumped on him. A surprised yell escaped him as he got knocked back into the pool. Fuck!

Mark shook his head as Jack yelled. "Ugh.. I must have zoned out." He looked at Chica to find her barking at the pool. Where was Jack?

Chica growled and snarled at the water.

Jack hurriedly tried to return to the surface but, unfortunately for him, changing back into a merman was a lot quicker than turning into a human. By the time his head breached the surface he had changed, his sweatpants hanging from his scaly hips in tatters. When he was met by Chica's snarling face he instinctively bared his teeth and growled back, his eyeteeth sharpening into small fangs.

She quickly realized it had not worked out how she thought. She yiped when Jack bared his fangs and growled back, ducking away and running inside.

Mark would've moved to help Jack out of the pool but his legs wouldn't obey him. He stood frozen, arms braced behind him against the table. Was... was he dreaming? Surely Jack didn't actually have fins along his arms and.. webbed fingers and pointed ears, nor did he have fangs that had just been flashed at his dog.

Jack relaxed when Chica ran off. He was worried she was gonna attack him. His face fell when his eyes landed on Mark. No. No no no no. This wasn't supposed to happen! He backed away from the edge of the pool lest Mark try to grab him. "Please don't send me away! I don't want to be dissected or experimented on! I swear I meant no harm! My pod abandoned me, I had nowhere to go!" he pleaded, clearly frightened. He was trapped, he couldn't swim away and it would take a few minutes to get legs again if he got out of the pool. His tail flicked nervously.

Now Mark had a pretty good view of his... was that a tail?! Considering it was such a dark color, it was hard not to see it. From what he could tell, it was a deep blue that faded into a bright green. It was striped in that same green, and the fins on his arms matched his tail. Needless to say, Mark was pretty shocked. He slowly lowered himself down to sit on the ground, not taking his eyes off of Jack. It was hard to process what he was seeing. Just to make sure, he pinched himself and flinched when he felt pain. "I-I, um.. I'm not dreaming, am I..."

Jack shook his head, unable to meet Mark's eyes. "No, unfortunately." By this point what remained of his sweatpants had slid off. However his wet shirt kept rubbing uncomfortably against the scales on his sides. Since the cat was already out of the bag he pulled his shirt off so it would stop doing that. "I really did want to tell you, but I didn't want to risk you turning out to be no better than the people who did this," he said, raising a hand to touch at his scar from underneath his choker.

Mark wasn't quite sure how to feel. "So... merfolk are... real?" Was all he could get out while he scooted a little closer to the edge of the pool. His body was screaming that he was going the wrong way, that he should back up to the door, but that was still Jack in the pool... right?

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Um, sirens too, that's what I am. Though, I'm not much of one anymore. The cut on my neck ruined that. That's what I meant when I said the spark was gone the other night." He cautiously swam over to Mark. "You- you're not gonna send me away are you? I have no where else to go, the ocean's too dangerous to live in by myself and I'll probably end up living on the streets again."

"At the risk of sounding.. a little racist, or speciesist?" Mark made himself sit by the edge of the pool, still a bit hesitant, "As long as you don't... y'know, try to drown me or eat me, I won't send you away. No luring me to my doom, okay?" This was just too surreal. Well it was no wonder he'd found himself staring at him so often. He was a siren. A siren! Wasn't that the most dangerous variation of mermaid? Or... in this case, merman?

"Sirens haven't drowned people or caused ship wrecks in a little over two centuries, it's not needed to keep our pods safe anymore. And the whole eating people thing is a myth so you're good there too. Plus, why would I do that to my friend? I mean, we are friends, right?" Jack thought they got along well enough to be. He held the edge of the pool with his hands and his tail curled up, causing the end of his fin to breach the surface of the water a little behind him.

Mark stared at the bit of fin peeking out of the water. They got along well enough... and Jack hadn't done anything to him, yet. He visibly relaxed a little where he sat. "Y-yeah.. yeah, I'd say we're friends. Um... I..." He puffed out his cheeks, letting out a slow jet of air to try and calm down more. "I kinda need some things from you, though... nothing particularly life changing just... I'd like to know the truth about all of this, and then if it's not too... weird... I'd like to um... to touch some part of you - god that sounds gay, I'm sorry, I'm just having trouble grasping all of this."

It wasn't hard to understand what he was getting at. "You wanna touch my tail don't you? Go ahead, I don't mind. Just be mindful of the fin, it's delicate," Jack said, turning to the side and moving back a bit before lifting the end of his tail out of the water so Mark could touch it. "As for the truth, I figure I owe you as much. I guess I should start at the beginning. I used to be one of several sirens that protected my pod from humans. Up until several months ago that is. I was out on my own and got caught by some whalers. They were gonna try and sell me when they saw what I was. Fortunately I managed to get away but one of them shot a harpoon in the water to try and kill me. That harpoon is what made the scar on my neck, not a knife. A siren who can't sing is pretty much useless, so my pod left me. I kinda just wandered the oceans after that, trying to find another pod to take me in. A lone merman is as good as dead in the ocean. About a month ago I got caught in a storm and got washed ashore here. I think i must have hit some rocks or coral before i washed ashore because i didn't have the scars on my back before hand. Quite frankly, I didn't even know I could get legs till I woke up on the beach. I've been living on land since, figuring it was safer than trying to live in an ocean that doesn't want me," he explained.

Damn... Jack's tail was much bigger than he'd thought initially. While Jack explained everything, Mark slowly and lightly ran his hand over the scales. It was much smoother than he'd expected it to be, and the scales had a shimmer to them, practically looking like gemstones. "...Well, that explains why you didn't want to watch anything with whalers, or play a harpoon level on Happy Wheels... and your reactions to both movies we watched. Explains a lot of things, really." Mark felt much calmer now, finding the feel of Jack's scales very interesting. He looked at the fin closer, not touching it since Jack had said it was delicate. He didn't want to hurt him in any way.

"Yeah, I would think it would explain just about everything. You're allowed to touch the fin you know, just be gentle. It's got a lot of nerves in it so any damage is extra painful," Jack said. It felt good to have this all out in the open, like a weight had lifted from his shoulders. Plus, he'd be able to go for a swim whenever he wants now that Mark knew what he was. "Oh and uh, sorry about earlier. I honestly didn't know my laughter could put people in a trance, I thought that was just exclusive to a siren's singing," he apologized. It was kind of odd that it would work for his laughter but not his singing. Maybe because laughing didn't use your vocal cords?

Mark gingerly moved his hand to the fin, running his fingers lightly against the structural spines. "No, no, it's alright. You didn't know. If anything, Chica needs apologized to... when she let's you. She's more spooked than I am at this point." If anything, now he was just extremely curious. He had questions popping into his head, all about Jack's culture, physiology, everything. Mark adjusted how he was sitting, letting his feet hang in the water. "I think this day just got a whole lot more interesting, for me."

"Yeah, I hope I didn't spook her too badly. I just didn't want her to attack me." Jack pushed away from the edge of the pool. This was the first time he'd properly been in water since coming here and he wanted to enjoy it a little. He dove under the water, his tail fin raising above it for a moment before splashing down. He resurfaced a few feet away, a bright smile on his face. It felt good to swim around again. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask," he said, just lounging on his back now as he floated.

Mark watched him with a slight smile on his face. He had a merman in his pool... how crazy was that?! "God, where do I start?" He ran a hand through his hair, trying to decide what question to ask first. He noticed three lines of scales on Jack's sides and it made him wonder. "Do you have gills?"

"Yeah, but they're not on my sides, that's just decoration, like how a male bird is more brightly colored then a female. My gills are in my windpipe. Burned like hell when I got that soda in them last night," Jack answered. He sank into the water and breathed deeply a few times to demonstrate, bubbles rising to the surface whenever he breathed out. The chlorine in the water itched a little but wasn't too bad. He popped his head back above the water again.

"I bet." Mark watched him, "Chlorine can't be too much better, either. So, if the stripes are just for looks, then what about your tattoo? Is that natural? And your hair? Is it naturally that color?"

Jack shrugged. "Actually it isn't too bad, it's pretty diluted. And yeah, my hair is naturally green. It actually grows in as a different shade of green every couple months, that's why my roots are dark green. Not all merfolk have colored hair and few have it grow back in different shades like mine does. As for my tattoo, it's not natural. We use squid and octopus ink and tap them in like how you humans used to. Mine's actually something every siren gets, its a symbol of our status, and a reminder of something that happened in our history," he explained.

"So I guess that makes you even more unique, huh? ...Am I allowed to ask what it's a symbol and reminder of?" Mark asked as he slipped off his shirt. A swim in the pool looked nice right about now.

"Yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't. Poseidon is a big part of our culture and a long time ago a big group of merpeople got together to build a statue of his trident. Such a big gathering attracted a lot of unwanted attention from sailors so all the sirens were tasked with leading them away to keep everyone safe. The tattoo is of that statue and serves as a reminder that, without the sirens that kept everyone safe, the statue wouldn't have been made. Basically a reminder of how important sirens are to keeping our species protected and hidden from humans. The statue has been broken for a while now due to erosion. Normally you get a tattoo of the way it originally looked but I wanted mine to be unique, so mine's of how it looks now." He ducked under the water again and swam over. "You coming in?" He asked once he surfaced again.

"Yeah, a swim sounds pretty good right now... and I'm already wet, so might as well." Mark hopped in, ducking under the water briefly before bobbing back up to the surface. He shook his wet hair out of his face and wiped off his eyes. "So Poseidon's part of your culture? Did you adopt him from human culture, or did we adopt it from you? Also, can you talk underwater? Like, how do you communicate when you're not in the open air?"

"I think you got him from us but I'm not sure. And yeah, we can talk underwater, the sound is just kinda muffled but we have pretty good hearing so it isn't much of a problem." Jack swam back a bit to give Mark some space.

Mark pushed off, floating further into the pool. "Okay, so, more physical questions. Um... how fast can you swim?"

"On average we can swim as fast as dolphins or sharks. I was actually the fastest in my pod," Jack replied. Wanting to show off a little, he dove underwater and zipped in circles around the pool for a minute. He resurfaced again near Mark when he was done, a big grin on his face.

"Holy shit!" Mark chuckled. "Damn, you're fast!" There was no denying he was impressed. He couldn't imagine being able to swim that fast. "So you can swim fast, your gills are in your wind pipe, tail fin is sensitive..." He lightly took hold of one of Jack's arms and lifted it out of the water a bit to look at the fins there. "Are these also sensitive?" He asked, running his finger lightly along the base of the spines, his fingertips grazing the mix of skin and scales.

Jack shook his head, chuckling. "No, they're fine. They're a lot more sturdy than my tail fin.They're built more like the dorsal fin on fish, they're to help cut through the water. My actual dorsal fin is sensitive though, since it's more for decoration than anything." It was almost kinda funny how curious Mark was.

"Do you have any sort of control of these, or are they just stiff?" He asked, playing with the fin on Jack's arm a little. Any fear he'd had was long gone by now, replaced by avid curiosity. "No, wait. Your legs are your tail. How does that happen?" Mark asked, touching Jack's hips without thinking. He wanted to know how he worked, what each new part did or could do, which even he found strange for himself since Jack was a creature of the ocean. He should be part of why he was afraid of it. Yet here he was, asking him questions, looking him over up close like a kid with a new toy on Christmas or someone who just got their very first pet. "...I'm not getting too personal, yet, am I?" He asked, now realizing that he was probably a bit too excited.

"They're stiff." Jack was a little surprised when Mark touched his hips but he figured he was just excited. "It's okay. I checked myself out a good bit when I first got legs, so I can understand you're just really excited to learn how everything works. And to answer your question, I think magic would be the simplest answer. Or maybe like what happens with a frog but faster? I'm honestly not really sure 'cause like this I just have my pelvis and a longer spine. None of the bones for legs or feet are in there, its all muscle and tendons and stuff. Heck, my tail has built in pockets," he said. He slid a hand into one of the hidden slits to show what he meant, there was one on each side just below his hips, where the thighs would start if he had legs. The skin inside the pockets was tougher and less feeling than the rest of his, so sharp or pointy objects wouldn't be uncomfortable to store.

"Huh. Oh geez, that would feel weird, I bet." Mark removed his hands from Jack's hips; it was probably weird to just leave them there. A thought popped into his head and he wasn't sure if he should ask or not. "So, um... this might be awkward... maybe even a little inappropriate, but um..." Mark rubbed at the back of his neck. "How does... reproduction work for you? Like... do you breed like fish? Or do you have sex? ...I probably shouldn't have asked that, I don't even know why it came to mind."

Jack's face went a little red at that question. Oh jeez, he was not expecting to be asked that. "Uh yeah, it's... kinda awkward but I don't mind answering too much. Despite looking like we're half fish we are mammals, so we do have sex. Everything's just hidden on guys, you don't see dolphins or whales swimming around with it out all the time after all," he explained, feeling awkward. Merpeople didn't really talk about that kind of stuff all that much, sex was kinda a special thing for them. Most merpeople tended to save themselves for their mates and due to that sex ed wasn't really a thing. And they mated for life because unlike humans they had ways of knowing if someone was their soul mate, and typically finding their soul mate was a lot easier than it was for humans.

"Right, right, makes sense..." Mark glanced away; man... this got really awkward really fast. "So, um... I uh... man, I do not know where to take this conversation, now, that it wouldn't be too weird..."

"How 'bout I ask some questions? Since we're sorta on the topic, I'm curious. Do humans have life-partners or do you take multiple partners throughout your life? Merpeople have one and stay loyal forever, even if their mate dies." It was something he was curious about since he himself didn't have a mate yet and was unsure if that would be possible with humans.

"Uh, well..." Mark thought on it for a sec, "Technically, we do both? See, we believe in having... mates, as you put it. It's why we have marriage. It's a special ceremony we have that binds two people together for life. If the two people really love each other and are compatible enough, they will stay together till death parts them. Some people, though, will have multiple partners throughout their life for one reason or another. Whether death comes early for one, or if both people find they're not compatible, or if they don't ever want a life-partner; there's a lot of reasons why someone would have a lot of partners over time. By nature though, we prefer having just the one if we can and want to stay loyal to that one person. It takes time to find them though."

Jack nodded in understanding, he supposed that made sense. "So is dating a way to help find a mate then? To help figure out if you're compatible? I heard the term 'dating' used a couple times while out on the streets."

Mark nodded, "Yeah it is. Dating helps a lot, actually. Two people go out together to the movies, out to eat, or to the beach and they get to know each other. They can also stay in and just," he shrugged, "do stuff, or just talk. Sometimes it leads to sexual activity, but it doesn't have to. Does.. that make sense?"

"Yeah, though it also sounds like stuff friends would do. Other than the sexual activity part that is. I mean, you took me out to eat and we've hung out and just talked and stuff. Though I suppose the best relationships come from good friendships," Jack said. He would have thought dating would be more complicated but if that's what happened then it sounded fun.

"They do, actually. You're basically looking for your best friend that you want to spend the rest of your life with, that you're comfortable with and attracted to." It didn't really hit Mark that by that definition, he was basically dating Jack.

"I'm guessing it can be hard for humans to find someone that fits that description. Since merpeople only have members of their pod to choose from it's easier for us." Well, most of the time. No one in Jack's pod had really interested him.

"It can be, sometimes," Mark shrugged, "For others, it can be easy. You could say it has a lot to do with luck. Some are lucky and find that person quick, while others aren't so lucky and it takes a long time."

"Well if it's luck based then I'm either screwed or well on my way to finding someone," Jack said, chuckling. He ran a hand through his wet hair, moving some of his bangs out of his face. He considered getting out now but realized he wouldn't have any pants to put on. Crap. Hopefully the towels Mark had brought out to dry off after the challenge with would be big enough to wrap around his waist.

Mark chuckled. "Oh yeah? Well considering your luck's been improving lately, I bet it's the latter." He glanced up at the door where Chica sat peeking her head out, looking worried. At least now he knew for sure why she kept growling at and avoiding Jack. His gaze drifted up to the cameras and it hit him... they were still recording. "Oh shit, that's right, the video! We should get out of the pool." He swam over to the steps in the corner that led down into the pool and stepped out to grab towels. "Umm..." He glanced at Jack, "How long does it take to sprout legs?"

"Two or three minutes. It's easier to change back than it is to get legs," he answered. Jack swam over and hoisted himself out with his arms. He had to scootch back a bit till his tail was completely out of the water. The sensation of his tail rubbing against the concrete as he moved back wasn't a very pleasant sensation, but he could live with it. Just had to be careful so he didn't tear his dorsal fin on the rough surface.

Mark walked over and handed him a towel. "I could see why. You grew up in the water, so being like this is your natural state." He sat on the concrete with him while he dried off his hair, "By the way, if you have any other questions, you can ask. I'm sure you didn't get much of chance to talk to people about how humans work and everything before I found you." He draped his towel around his neck and leaned back on his hands, legs stretched out alongside Jack's tail. "Had to have been weird trying to figure out legs for the first time."

"I will if I can think of any. I'm kinda drawing a blank right now," Jack said, taking the towel and drying his own hair off. When he was done he laid it over where his crotch would be whenever his tail changed into legs. "It was, I stumbled and fell over a lot the first few days. It's a wonder they weren't a scraped up mess. Still don't know what the point of toes are, you can't do anything with them." While talking, things had already started to change. The points of his ears softened till they weren't pointed anymore and the scales on his sides were fading into skin. The fins on his arms were shrinking and the webbing between his fingers receded till there wasn't any.

"They're actually for balance, if I remember right," Mark answered. "If you didn't have them, you'd have a tougher time of walking and you're legs would take on a lot more weight while standing." He watched him slowly change back, fascinated by how things were changing as he dried off.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." The fins on his arms and the scales on his sides were completely gone now. After a minute, his tail fin started to shrink and the scales on his tail started to give way to pale flesh. Gradually, a sunken line ran down the center of his tail and as time passed it eventually split into two. His tail fin had become webbed feet at this point and after a few moments they were normal feet. He wiggled his toes a little to get the feeling back in them since the transformation had left them a little numb.

"Wow.." Mark looked up and down Jack's legs as they changed. It was so weird, and yet so cool to watch. "What does that feel like? The change, I mean," he asked, curious.

"It tingles mostly. The weirdest sensation is when my tail splits. Kinda like something's pressing down on it and then pinching it right before it fully separates." Jack wasn't really sure how to describe it, it was such an odd sensation. It didn't hurt, just felt weird.

"So weird..." After a moment of staring at Jack's legs, Mark's face flushed and he cleared his throat. "We should, um... We should get you some clothes." He stood up and offered him a hand.

"Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea." Jack took Mark's hand and got to his feet, holding the towel in place with his other hand. They were both guys but it would still be awkward if he didn't keep covered up, it wasn't like he had it out in merman form and the genitalia of human males was different from mermen appearance wise.

Mark kept his eyes averted, not wanting to make things any more awkward than they already were by looking. "So umm... yeah, let's get you inside." He let his hand go and paused the camera on his way past it, heading inside. "Go ahead and go grab some clothes. I'm going to calm Chica down." Mark knelt in front of the large pup, ruffling her fur.

Chica was keeping low to the ground underneath the kitchen table, whimpering.

Jack nodded, keeping a good distance between him and Chica as he passed through the kitchen. He didn't want to scare her anymore or risk getting bit. He hurried upstairs and to his room and put on a light blue shirt and some flamingo shorts. Technically they were swim shorts but he liked them just to have as some silly shorts to wear around the house. He went back downstairs once he was dressed.

Mark was giving Chica plenty of kisses on the head and hugging her, rubbing her back to calm her. "It's okay, Chica. He's not going to hurt you, I promise. You're okay," he spoke softly.

Jack lingered in the kitchen doorway, unsure if he should come in while Mark was calming Chica. He really did feel bad about scaring her, he didn't mean to. It was just an automatic defensive response.

"It's okay, girl." Mark looked up at Jack and smiled. "Come here. Slowly." He held his hand out to him.

Jack bit his lip nervously before nodding. He took slow, deliberate steps into the room, approaching them cautiously. When he reached Mark he took his hand and slowly crouched down next to him. He avoided looking Chica in the eyes, feeling guilty.

"It's okay, Chica." Mark kept Jack's hand in his own, slowly showing Chica their linked hands. "Look, see? He's not hurting me, and he won't hurt you."

Chica glanced between the two of them. After staring for a bit, she walked away.

"Well, it's a work in progress." Mark shrugged, "At least she didn't growl or bite."

That went better than he expected. "To be honest I'm surprised she didn't. Hopefully she'll warm up to me eventually when she realizes I'm not planning on hurting either of you." Lord knows how long that would take, she was probably a lot more distrustful of him now that she knew what Jack was.

Mark shrugged, "It might take a bit. But I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually." He smiled and stood up, pulling Jack up by the hand he was holding. "Now, how about we finish that video?"

"Sure. You realize I'm probably gonna kick your ass at that challenge right? Literally everything I ate before coming on land was raw seafood and underwater plants, so I have a distinct advantage when it comes to eating sushi." Mark would have a lot to edit out since the cameras had still been rolling after he fell in the pool.

"Maybe," he chuckled, "Doesn't mean I can't try. It is a challenge for a reason. Besides, that face you made on the last one didn't go unnoticed." Mark let go of his hand and walked back outside, "By the way, are you going to be okay if you get water dumped on you?"

"It was the texture! The ocean is not supposed to be all thick and creamy! Weird textures always get to me," Jack said defensively. Quite frankly he was surprised that last one hadn't made him puke. "I'll be fine. I only sprout my tail if my legs are fully submerged in water. Changing just because of getting splashed would make it way too hard to live on land," he answered, following him outside.

"Well that's good to know." Mark checked the memory card in his camera and switched it out, putting the first one somewhere safe and dry. "That'll be interesting to edit. So! Let's get back to it! Can't let this sushi go to waste."

 

A couple hours later Jack was sat in an armchair, looking at Mark expectantly. Mark had said he wanted to run a video idea by him that they could do sometime in the next few weeks. Judging by how excited Mark was, it must be something really interesting.

"Alright so, I have this character that I occasionally do skits with. He's sort of become like my dark alter ego. He was originally made by the fans; whenever I would act different or creepy, they started calling that Darkiplier, which sort of evolved into this separate character all his own. He's a manipulative, seductive, intelligent sociopath who's out to use whomever he talks to. I've actually come up with a story for him." Mark took a few minutes to sum up Dark's backstory for Jack, explaining main key points. "I've got another skit idea for him, and was wondering if you'd like to be part of the video with that character."

Jack listened intently, his interest piqued. The 'dark alter ego' thing kinda reminded him of that creature from his nightmare. "Yeah, I'd love to! That sounds so cool! What did you have in mind for the video?" He said eagerly. He was curious what Mark had in mind for him to do.

"So 'Dark's' thing is getting people to 'let him in,' let him take control, and he's trying to get back at 'me' for what happened in the past. So I was thinking that maybe 'Dark' could kidnap you and try to force his control over you, y'know?"

"So he can use me against 'you' I'm guessing? That definitely sounds like something fun to act out. Would he succeed though? In forcing his control over me I mean. Or would something else happen, some sort of twist or last minute rescue?" Jack wanted to have all the details about what Mark was planning.

"That's where I'd like your help with it. I honestly want a twist, and I was thinking maybe you could have a dark alter ego," Mark suggested. "And maybe, because of that, he doesn't succeed."

Mark's suggestion made him think of that nightmare again. The thing from it would make for a perfect dark alter ego for him. Jack grinned as an idea came to him. "You're in luck, I actually have an idea for one. Heh, it's quite the coincidence actually. The night i couldn't sleep and grabbed Tim, I hadn't been able to sleep because of a nightmare I had. And what was in the nightmare would work really well as a dark alter ego for me. I think I know what to call it too. You have Darkiplier, a Dark Mark, how bout an Anti Jack, Antisepticeye? And for the video, maybe 'Dark' trying to control me causes 'Anti' to possess me, not wanting his puppet to be used by someone else?"

"Ooo~" Mark tapped his fingers on his chin, ideas floating around in his head already. "Antisepticeye... I can definitely see that! Do you remember how he looked? I mean, obviously like you, but like any little differences? Behaviors? I love that idea of you being his puppet." He was probably getting a little too excited about it, but he could already tell this video would be totally different from his other Dark skits.

Jack smiled, glad Mark liked his idea. He had to think for a moment to remember exactly how he had looked, as well as the quirks he had. "There were a couple differences. He had his bangs spiked up and his eyes were really unusual. They were green like mine are when I'm using my siren abilities, but the whites of his eyes were black and they went completely black when he got angry. He had fangs and black gauges in his ears. I actually used to have gauges, but the ones merfolk make I just didn't like all that much so I stopped wearing them. Oh and, uh, well, he had the same scar on his neck as me but it was still open and bleeding. His head kept twitching now and then, like Chica and Bonnie's did in FNAF. And he kept like, glitching and electronic screeches would sometimes sound when he did. Sometimes when he glitched it would show an afterimage of him yanking at his hair or screaming. His voice and laugh was distorted and would sometimes become higher or lower pitched. His laugh was actually really creepy and psychotic sounding. He had a tendency to gesture like he was cutting his throat. Oh, and he had a knife towards the end, it kinda just glitched into existence in his hand," he explained.

"That's really cool. Creepy, but cool!" Mark chuckled slightly. "Well, the eyes we can do easily with editing, although it might take time here and there. Same with the glitching. It almost makes him seem like a computer virus, but extremely violent. We can get you a pair of gauges, no problem. And I should have some fake blood leftover from Halloween that we could use."

Jack chuckled a little as well. Creepy but cool was a very apt description. "So it's all doable then, that's good. I can sport fangs while like this so I've got that covered, no need for fake ones, and I think I can get my eyes to go green to make them a little easier to edit. And I guess he kinda does seem like one, huh? But uh, quick question. What's Halloween?"

Mark chuckled, "Oh, right. You wouldn't know what that is. Well it's a holiday. Every year at the end of October, we can dress up in costumes as basically anything. Little kids get to go around and collect candy from each house, we carve faces into pumpkins, watch scary movies. It can be a lot of fun. The original point of the holiday was centered around warding off evil creatures. I wanna say it was originally a Celtic holiday, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'd know it."

Oooo~ That sounded fun! October, that was the name of a month in Fall wasn't it? What season was it anyway, he had lost track and it was hard to tell since this place had a warmer climate than Ireland. "My pod really only picked up whatever the humans we came across would talk about, and I guess Halloween just wasn't ever mentioned. Which is interesting since my pod's lived in the sea surrounding Ireland for centuries."

"They have? It would probably be known by a different name..." Well that brought up some questions. It hadn't occurred to him to ask about that. "Jack, what is the average lifespan of a mer... person? Like, have you, or anyone in your pod really lived there for centuries, or have several generations in your pod lived there throughout the centuries? I'm just curious, I realized I hadn't asked you that."

"Heheh, don't worry, I'm only twenty-seven, despite the grey in my brown hair. I meant several generations. Ninety is the average but in good conditions we can live up to around a hundred and twenty years. So not too much longer than humans can," He explained. He had been tempted to joke a little and say he was three hundred years old but decided against it.

"Geeeez... a hundred and twenty?" Humans were lucky to live to ninety in the best conditions. "That's insane... now I'm trying not to imagine a ninety year old woman with a tail. The image," Mark chuckled and scrunched up his nose at that thought. "Do you age visibly like humans? Like saggy skin, graying or white hair, frail looking, or do you stay pretty fit most of that time?"

Jack chuckled. "It doesn't happen often, like I said, the average is ninety. And yeah, we do, minus the frail part since all the swimming keeps us in good shape. For most of us it just takes longer to show it since we live a little longer than you do. I'm one of the few that started graying early, it runs in my family."

"Eh, nothing wrong with a little salt in the pepper," Mark smiled, "It looks good on you."

Jack wasn't really sure why Mark's compliment made his face heat up a little. "Thanks. I've never really minded it though. Back when I was still working on growing facial hair it helped keep me from looking like a fifteen year old. Without my beard and mustache I essentially have a baby face."

"Really? You with no facial hair... that would be interesting to see." Mark honestly couldn't imagine Jack without the facial hair.

"Well I ain't shaving to show you. I'm quite happy with what I have and I'm not getting rid of it any time soon."

Mark laughed a little. "I didn't expect you to. It probably grows in really slow and patchy, huh? I feel like mine grows in too fast sometimes." He played with the hair on his chin. He'd probably need a shave or a trim in a day or two.

"Actually it grows back pretty quick. I just don't really like not having it is all. Like I said before, I have a baby face without it and that annoys the crap out of me," Jack paused for moment, remembering something he had watched earlier, "I kinda look like a younger, green haired Sheldon Cooper without my facial hair."

"You know who Sheldon Cooper is?" Mark chuckled.

"Saw a show called The Big Bang Theory on the t.v. earlier, so a little." Jack briefly glanced outside and was surprised to see it had already gotten dark out, stars twinkling in the sky. He hadn't even realized it had gotten that late. Hmm, it had been a while since he had gone for a night time swim. He used to love going out at night. Thanks to how rural Ireland was, there were a lot of stars in the sky and if the water was still it would look like he was swimming in an ocean of stars. And it was always cool the way the soft glow he could emit would leave trails of light in the water when he swam fast. Maybe that would be something Mark would want to see? "Hey Mark? Wanna see something cool I can do whenever it gets dark?" he said, getting to his feet and standing by the sliding door to the back yard.

Mark raised a brow and stood, following him. "Yeah, sure! What can you do?"

Jack opened the door and went out, approaching the pool. "It really only happens when I'm in my merman form so you might wanna close your eyes or turn around while I strip and jump in," He said, already starting to pull off his shirt.

Mark blushed slightly, "Oh yeah, sure." He turned around, facing the house.

Jack finished getting his shirt off and slid his shorts and boxers down, stepping out of them. He grinned before diving into the pool with a loud splash. He changed within a few moments and he smiled brightly at the sight of the glow emitting from the bright green scales and the bright green parts of his fins. It was coming from his hair too, though only the bright green part, the dark green couldn't glow. He swam out a bit so Mark would have a better view before he surfaced. "You can look now."

Mark turned around and his eyes went wide at the sight as he stepped closer. "WHOA! You glow?!" He stood at the edge of the pool, fascinated by the glow. "You never mentioned you were bioluminescent! That's so cool!"

Jack chuckled at his reaction, smiling. "Yeah, not everyone is, but I am. Typically those with bright colors like the green on me end up being bioluminescent, though I have seen some dark colors glow. I used to really like swimming around at night rather than sleep just so I could race around and create pictures out of the light trail my speed would cause the glow to leave." That was actually how the whalers had caught him, it had been at night and they could see the glow from the surface. He swam over, his tail fin flicking above the surface of the water briefly before splashing back down, creating an arc of water droplets that reflected his glow.

"That sounds like a lot of fun," Mark chuckled. "Oh, hold on a sec!" He threw off his shirt and grabbed a pair of goggles, putting them on his head and jumping in with him. "Do you mind if I get a closer look?"

"Go ahead. I didn't mind earlier so I don't see why I would now." It was funny how each new thing Mark learned about merpeople got him all excited and curious. Actually kinda adorable in a way.

Mark swam over and slipped the goggles over his eyes. He took a deep breath and put his face in the water, looking at his tail up close. He didn't pay much attention to where he was floating, too busy getting a good look at the glowing scales on his friend's tail. He softly ran a finger over one. It was so bright! No wonder Jack could leave light trails in the dark water.

"When you're done looking, wanna see how it looks when I leave a trail of light?" Jack liked to show off for Mark. His pod hadn't really cared all that much about how fast he was or that he glowed, so having Mark get excited by it was a nice change. It felt nice to have someone else care about the qualities he was proud of.

Mark pulled his head up out of the water for air. "Yeah! I'd love to see that!" He lifted the goggles up and noticed Jack's hair glowed a little too, although it seemed to fade and stop closer to his scalp. "Well, hello Rapunzel," he chuckled slightly, reaching a hand up without thinking to run his fingers through Jack's hair, "Definitely no healing powers. Although she still sings to give her that power, so. That's a Disney movie, by the way."

Jack's face went red, blushing when Mark ran his fingers through his hair. The glow he was emitting brightened a little in response and his tail fin flicked nervously, tiny little scales lighting up on his blushing cheeks. "Sounds like a movie I should watch then," he said after a moment.

"Yeah, you should." Mark smiled at him. "So is your hair like a type of specialized scale? What makes it glow? And why only the lighter green?" He always seemed to end up coming up with more questions when Jack let him look him over. There were so many interesting things about him that he wanted to know.

"Uh, I'm not really sure. I think it works like how some jellyfish glow, or maybe it's like those fish with the glowing lures. And I think it's just easier for the light to show through the lighter color."

"Maybe..." Mark was a bit distracted, staring at Jack's face. Maybe he was imagining it, but Jack seemed to have bright green glowing freckles on his face. He couldn't help but stare; it was like he had stars on his cheeks. "...wow..." He let his hand drift down to Jack's cheek, gently grazing a thumb over the little specks of light. How he wished he had a waterproof camera on him right now to catch this. It was beautiful.

Jack froze when Mark caressed his cheek with his thumb, his mouth opening a little in surprise. His blush deepened at the way Mark was looking at him, full of wonder and awe, like Mark was staring at something incredibly beautiful. The little scales that dotted his cheekbones glowed brighter. Why did Mark's expression seem to make his heart pound in his chest?

Mark lingered there a while, admiring each little light on his face even as they seemed to get brighter under his touch. He could feel them just barely against that wet cheek, the slightest little bumps on Jack's skin that proved the little stars were scales, translucent and small, but definitely there. Mark felt like he was seeing the Milky Way for the first time and it was dotted across Jack's face. It was such a gorgeous sight to behold. His eyes wandered along his face, picking up any and every little fleck of light on his skin when he noticed Jack's lips were parted ever so slightly. It occurred to him that he knew what those soft lips felt like against his own, a blush crossing his own cheeks at the thought. He honestly wouldn't mind feeling that again...

It occurred to him a moment later what he was doing and his eyes flitted back up to Jack's, feeling a little embarrassed. "I-I um..." Mark removed his hand from Jack's cheek and backed up a few inches, running the hand through his wet hair nervously. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me just then... that was probably getting too close for comfort, huh?"

Jack didn't want to admit it, but he was actually a little sad when Mark moved away from him. The way Mark had looked at him had made him feel... good. Like there was a pleasant warmth building in his chest. The little flecks of light that dotted his cheeks dimmed as his blush faded. "I-It's okay. Um, I.... actually didn't mind it all that much," he said, looking down and to the right as he bit his lip nervously. "You were looking at the little scales on my cheeks, right?"

"Yeah I was." Mark was surprised that Jack hadn't minded that. Anyone else probably would've freaked out on him. Then again, Jack wasn't just anyone. "If you don't mind me saying, they're really beautiful. Like looking up at the night sky," he smiled at him.

Jack's blush returned at the compliment, the little scales lighting up again. Jaysus, why did Mark make him blush so much? "Of-of course I don't mind. Thank you, that's really nice of you to say."

"You've never really been complimented on that before, huh?" he asked. He was starting to think that the glow on his cheeks might be how he blushes, which he thought was just the best thing he'd ever seen. Mark took one of Jack's forearms in his hands, gingerly looking it over to look at the scales that glow there. Although his eyes kept drifting back to Jack's cheeks.

Jack shook his head. "The members of my pod weren't really the complimenting type, that was typically reserved for their mates. 'I love you's weren't said much either, it was really only my oldest brother and sister that would say that to me," he explained. Everything was just sort of implied, they never really found the need to say things like that out loud. So when they did, it was special. Hearing compliments so openly was a nice change.

"Well, you'll find I'm pretty open about it," Mark chuckled slightly. "Unless you want me to stop. I'd totally understand." He dipped his head down a little to get a closer look through the water at the scales on Jack's sides.

Jack tilted his head curiously. "Why would I want you to stop? It's a nice change of pace to be given one so openly." Were there people who didn't like getting compliments?

"Well, you said it was usually reserved for mates. I know in some human cultures, if something's traditionally reserved for marriage, it's considered pretty offensive to do or say said thing in any other setting. If it doesn't bother you, though, I won't worry about it too much." Mark really wanted to touch Jack's cheek again, but he really wasn't sure if he should... for a number of reasons.

"Oh. Well, I was never really all that fond of it being like that anyway. If you like something about someone, you should say it, it could brighten up their day. Especially since it could be something they're self-conscious about and think people don't like it." Was it wrong that he kinda wanted Mark to touch his cheek again? He knew Mark felt awkward about it and the scales on his cheeks had stopped glowing at this point.

Mark bit his lip in thought. He desperately wanted to touch his cheek again. Especially if doing so made him blush, since he was pretty sure now that was what caused the glow on his face. It wasn't as though Jack had tried to pull away from him when he did. He'd stayed extremely still except for the small current he'd kicked up with his tail briefly, before. The whole situation was pretty wild, considering that Mark was starting to think he might... actually really like Jack more than he'd thought. Granted, maybe it was his powers as a Siren making that happen, but he knew Jack wouldn't hurt him so that wasn't too terrible if it was true. "Can you... maybe... humor me for a moment?" Mark asked after a long minute of silence.

Jack raised a brow. That was an odd request. What was he planning? "Uh, yeah, sure. What is it?" he answered. Whatever Mark was going to do, it couldn't be anything bad. He was too nice to do something that would upset him or make him really uncomfortable, not on purpose anyway. It was probably odd that he had grown to trust him so much in such a short amount of time. But, if Mark wasn't someone he could trust, that would have been proven by now. He could have done exactly what he feared he would when he found out what he was earlier that day, but he didn't.

Mark swam a little closer to him again. He wanted to see if his assumption was right. He raised his hand out of the water and gently caressed Jack's cheek again.

Pink dusted Jack's cheeks and the little scales started to glow once more. He had to keep himself from leaning into Mark's touch, unsure how he would react if he did. Why was it that Mark illicited such a reaction from him? He honestly felt a little confused.

Mark smiled slightly as Jack's face lit up at his touch. He was right... that's how he blushes. He ran his thumb over the scales again, enjoying the light texture they made on Jack's skin. "...like holding stars in my hand..." He thought, not realizing he'd actually said it out loud.

Jack's blushed deepened, the scales glowing brighter in response to Mark's words. The awe-struck, almost dreamy sounding tone made his heart flutter in his chest. Was this what Mark had wanted to see? Had he been trying to make him blush?

Here came that thought again about Jack's lips, remembering how soft they'd felt even in his panic to calm him down. It had been such a brief moment but it still lingered in Mark's mind, making his heart race. Should he... maybe try in earnest? He would ask first, of course, consent was important. Before, it had been about snapping Jack back to reality without hurting him. Now it was different...

Jack could tell Mark was thinking hard about something. He wondered what it was. He noticed Mark's gaze would flit to his lips occasionally while he was thinking. What, did he have something on them? It didn't feel there was. He bit his bottom lip nervously.

Mark's eyes lingered on his lips again. God, he wanted to be the one biting that- ...WHAT WAS HE THINKING RIGHT NOW?! A bright blush painted Mark's face red as he took his hand away. "I-I um... You know, you should really show me how the light trails when you swim fast," he rambled off quickly. The hell was going on, right now?

"Oh, um, okay, sure. I'll... go do that." Jack was just as confused as Mark was. He tried not to linger on what just happened and backed away a bit. He sunk under the water and took a moment to collect himself before starting to swim in wide circles around Mark. Picking up speed, it left a ring of light around him, similar to if you have a glowstick on a string or a sparkler and twirl it around.

"Wow!" Mark smiled as he watched him, distracted for the moment from his earlier thoughts. He could only imagine what Jack could do in more open water.

Jack stopped after a minute and resurfaced. "I'd have done something more fancy, like spelling out a word, but your pool isn't exactly big enough for that. So a circle was the best I could do." That was one of the things he missed about being in the ocean, but he didn't mind it as much anymore. He was finally happy about living on land, and he had Mark to thank for that.

"Well, we could always take a trip to the beach. I imagine you must miss being in more open waters."

Jack beamed at the suggestion. "That would be awesome! But it would have to be a more secluded beach in order for me to go in, I don't want to risk anyone seeing me."

"I know a couple different places we could go to. Pretty secluded, not a lot of people if at all. Would you like to go in a couple days?"

Jack nodded excitedly, his tail curling up and swishing behind him. He gave him a tight hug in gratitude. He blushed when he realized he had done that without really thinking and backed away a bit, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed. "Sorry, I got a little too excited there for a second. It's just, I haven't been in the ocean since washing ashore a month ago and, even though I really like living on land now, the ocean is still my home."

Mark chuckled. "No no, it's okay. Nothing wrong with a hug, or excitement. I completely understand."

Jack smiled. "Seriously though, thank you. It means a lot."

"It's no problem at all, Jack," Mark smiled at him, "I hate to say it, but we should probably hop out of here. I'm getting kind of hungry. I can try and carry you inside, if you want."

Jack shook his head. "No, it's okay. I can wait till I change back. My tail weighs more than my legs do, so it might be hard for you. I mean, you can if you want, I just don't want it to be awkward." It would certainly be interesting if he did though.

"Well, I can at least make an attempt. If I can't, it's fine." Mark swam over to the steps and looked back to him. "Come on, we'll try here first and see if I can at least lift you out of the water. That way you don't start changing just yet."

Jack nodded before swimming over. "When you try to pick me up, should I wrap my arms around your neck? Would that make things any easier?" He asked. He wanted to make it a little easier on him however he could. Muscular or not, Mark could potentially strain himself.

"Probably recommended." Mark dipped into the water a little, "Let's give this a shot. Wrap them around me and hold on."

"Okay." Jack did as he was told, wrapping his arms around him and gripping his wrists to link them together. "Ready when you are."

Mark nodded, "I apologize now if I touch anything sensitive." He wrapped an arm behind his back and the other under his tail. He just hoped he could keep a grip on him. He gave himself a three second countdown before lifting him out of the water. "Oh wow.. your tail is heavy." Mark had to lean back a little to counter balance.

Jack chuckled. "My legs may be scrawny little chicken legs but my tail is all muscle. Comes from living in the ocean for twenty-seven years and from zipping around like I like to do. I ain't too heavy for ya am I?" It felt kinda odd, being carried in this form. It sorta gave him a 'fish out of water' feel, vulnerable. Without his legs he couldn't run away, so this would be a comprising position for him to be in if Mark wasn't the one carrying him.

"For me? No. You're actually making me very glad that I workout, or this would be impossible." Mark stepped out of the pool, being careful to make sure Jack's fin didn't hit anything on the way in. "At least this way, you don't have to wait outside to dry off. It might not get too cold here in September, but there can still be the occasional chilly breeze at night."

Chica came around the corner, hearing her owner's voice. She was hoping to be pet, and maybe cuddled; this had been a stressful day. She jumped slightly and froze. WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT?!

"Hey there, Chica!" Mark greeted.

Chica jumped and ran to the far side of the room.

"Well that's good. And I actually don't mind the cold all that much, the waters around Ireland aren't all that warm so I'm used to a little chill." Jack chuckled at the reaction Chica had when she saw him. Yeah she was scared, but it was kinda funny. "I guess seeing her master carry a fish man startled her. She doesn't have anything to be afraid of though, I'm literally helpless on land till I get my legs. I couldn't chase after her even if I wanted to."

Mark chuckled, "Yeah, well, she doesn't know that. So, I know I can't linger long. Should I just take you up to the bathroom and then bring you some clothes?"

"That'll work. You can just set me in the tub and I'll sit in there till I get my legs back. And you can just get the clothes I left on the patio, no need to dirty anymore clothes."

Mark nodded and climbed up the stairs sideways, heading straight for the bathroom.

Chica peeked up the stairs after them. It was so weird, what was it?

Mark nudged open the bathroom door and made his way inside. Once he was over to the tub, he sat on the edge and helped ease him down into the tub carefully. "Whew... Okay, you hang out here," he stood and grabbed Jack a towel, handing it to him, "I'll go get your clothes."

"Not like I can go hang anywhere else at the moment," Jack said jokingly, taking the towel, "I'll be waiting for ya." He worked on drying himself off a little before draping the towel over himself like he had earlier that day. All of the more minor changes were already starting to occur.

Mark chuckled and went back downstairs to grab Jack's clothes.

Chica watched him walk by before making her way upstairs to peek through the bathroom door. What was that thing? It smelled strange, but it still looked like that Jack person. Where were his legs?

Jack noticed her peer in and gave her a small wave, smiling sheepishly. "Hi Chica, don't mind me. Just sitting in here till I get my legs back and Mark grabs my clothes." He knew she probably could only understand a few of his words, but it was easy to talk as if she understood everything.

She whined and sat, not moving any closer but still trying to figure out what he was.

Mark pet her head on his way back in. "Hey, there's my girl. Checking him out?" He walked into the bathroom and set his clothes on the counter. "Here you go. Should be all of it. I'll leave you to it and go make dinner. Anything sound good?"

"Thanks. I should be down in like five minutes at the latest. Anything you feel like making is fine. I still have an arse-ton of human food I haven't tried yet, so I don't wanna ask for anything I've already had till I've tried more." Jack rubbed at his eye a little, an eyelash had gotten in it and it was bothering him.

"Hmm, so something you haven't tried yet... Maybe mac and cheese?" Mark frowned slightly, "Something in your eye?"

"Yeah, just an eyelash. One of the downsides having thick, long eyelashes, they have a tendency to get in my eyes now and then. Mac and cheese? Well if it's got cheese then it sounds good to me," Jack replied. After a moment he finally got the lash out of his eye.

Mark smiled at him. "Mac and cheese it is, then. I'll see ya when you come down. Come on, Chica! Food time!" Mark rushed back downstairs with Chica in tow, heading down to the kitchen to cook.

Jack chuckled as he watched them rush out. How a grown man could be so adorab- Did he really just think that? Was he really about to think Mark was adorable? Jaysus, what was going on with him? He ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath, trying to quiet his thoughts. After a couple minutes he finished changing back to human form and got to his feet, stepping out of the tub before getting dressed and heading downstairs.

Mark was already boiling noodles and setting food down for Chica when Jack came down. "Hey there! All good to go, it looks like. I've got the noodles boiling now. It shouldn't take long."

Jack nodded, "Yup, all good. And great, I'm starved." He stifled a yawn.

"Getting tired?" Mark asked, checking the noodles. Since they seemed to be done, he grabbed a pot holder and took it over to the strainer he'd set up in the sink, draining the water.

"Yeah. I guess changing into my merman form and back twice in one day really saps my energy," Jack answered, stifling another yawn. Well that was annoying. He didn't want to end up going to bed early, but something told him he'd probably be dead on his feet within the next hour or so.

"Well, good thing food is done. I'll carry you to bed if you fall asleep at the table," Mark chuckled, mixing in the milk and cheese. He grabbed a couple bowls, just keeping it simple tonight, and poured some in each bowl. He grabbed out two forks and a spoon, not sure which Jack might prefer, and sat everything on the table. "Water to drink?"

"Well if I do, at least I'll be lighter for you this time." Jack reached out and grabbed the spoon, not really bothering to wonder if that might be a weird way to eat macaroni. "Yeah, water's good," he answered, taking one of the bowls of mac and cheese.

Mark fetched a couple glasses and got them both some water, setting Jack's in front of him. Spoon huh? Well this would interesting. He sat down and grabbed his own bowl, eating a bite while he watched him.

Jack picked up his glass and took a long sip before grabbing his spoon and scooping up some macaroni. A bright smile, albeit a tired one, lit up his face when he took a bite. It was so good!

Mark chuckled, "You like it?"

Jack quickly nodded, "Like it? I love it! This is definitely one of my favorite foods now."

Mark chuckled again, "Well eat up before you're too tired to eat. I should introduce you to sweets next."

Mark didn't have to tell him twice. Jack dug in and by the time he had only a few bites left he was barely awake. His eyelids drooped and he ended up slumping against the table, promptly passing out. It had been a tiring day for him, between changing twice and all the excitement from Mark finally learning the truth, it wasn't that surprising that he would end up passing out early.

Mark had been in the middle of talking to him about something while he finished his own bowl when he noticed Jack wasn't replying. He glanced over at him and smiled. "Now that's cute..." Mark grabbed his phone off the counter and took a quick picture before grabbing their bowls, setting them in the sink. He could wash them in the morning. "Let's get you to bed, Little Mermaid," he chuckled and carefully scooped him up in his arms. Jack was definitely much lighter this way.

Jack's head rested against Mark's chest, his lips parted slightly and some of his bangs falling across his face. His chest rose and fell with his soft breaths and he unconsciously wriggled in Mark's arms a bit to snuggle closer to him. Mark provided a comforting warmth that he felt the need to be close to.

Mark smiled at him and held him close as he carried him upstairs and into his room, laying him down in his bed. He pulled the covers over him and brushed some stray hair out of Jack's face. "Sleep tight, Jack."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Links:
> 
> [Reference for Jack's siren features](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/post/165908642301/ref-for-sirenjacks-tail-and-arm-fins-decided)
> 
> [Fan Art made by my co-author Silvererros](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/175294391058/a-sirens-kiss-with-and-without-glow-just)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's tailfin shape](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/159595842823/more-fanfiction-fanart-i-keep-running-into)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's genitalia in merman form](http://silvererros18andover.tumblr.com/post/174135603375/its-mermay-bring-on-the-lovin-dark-and-jack)
> 
> [Spotify Playlist for this story](https://open.spotify.com/user/8q0elo21l6iicpg6uq4vhr9nd/playlist/6YzyDiC867sxq9uGuMEfPp?si=JallrKXUTrOcGCclrWC-Vw)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a warning ahead of time, this chapter contains some sexual content involving erections and masturbation. If you wish to skip those scenes, they will start and end with this: ^^^^ so that you know where to skip over.

Jack was a little confused at first when he woke up that morning, not remembering ever going to his room. Oh yeah, Mark said he would carry him up here if he accidentally fell asleep. Thank god, he'd probably be sore as all balls right now if he spent the entire night sleeping against the table. He crawled out of bed and got dressed, slipping on a grey shirt with Berlin plastered across the chest and some jeans, before heading downstairs. After the sushi thing yesterday he had recorded two videos for his channel, the first ones he had done by himself, and he was eager to do so again today. He wasn't sure what games he wanted to do yet though so he figured he'd watch some of Mark's videos later for inspiration.

Mark was letting Chica run around in the yard while he got back into his routine, doing his morning workout. With Jack here, he'd gotten a bit off track. He highly enjoyed the company, though. Most of the people he talked to didn't live anywhere near him. It was a welcome change having Jack in the house.

"Morning Mark," Jack greeted when he saw him. He tilted his head curiously, a confused look on his face. What the heck was he doing?

"Morning!" Mark said on his next breath out, continuing his sit ups. "I'll be... done... in a... bit."

"Okay. What exactly are you doing though?" Why did he keep curling up to his knees and back down to the floor? It didn't exactly seem like something fun to do, it just seemed tiring.

"Sit-ups... part of... my... workout." Mark sat up, panting a little, and looked up at him. "Just trying to stay fit. Why?"

"I didn't know what you were doing and just wanted to know what it was. So it's a health thing? You said stay fit, that means it's for being healthy right?" Merfolk didn't really work out. It wasn't needed since constantly swimming around was a workout in and of itself.

"Yeah, it's a health thing." Mark stood up, "You're used to swimming constantly, so naturally you stayed fit and healthy. Humans don't have that benefit, though. So we have to do certain exercises to stay fit. Walking and swimming are among some of them."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Jack scratched absentmindedly at an itch on his neck, once again not wearing his choker. He felt a lot more comfortable not wearing it now, at least around Mark. He knew what his scar was from, so he didn't have to worry about him judging him for it. He'd put it on when he did his videos later though, he wasn't really ready to talk about it on the internet yet.

Mark smiled at him. It was nice to see Jack was obviously comfortable around him, since he'd been wearing his choker less and less. "Anyway, breakfast?" he asked, heading toward the kitchen.

"Yeah, breakfast sounds good," Jack said, following after him. "By the way, thanks for bringing me up to bed last night. And sorry for falling asleep while you were talking."

"It was no problem at all, really. You were exhausted." Mark chuckled and started gathering stuff together for omelets.

Jack quietly watched him gather stuff for a moment before speaking up. "Think you could show me how to cook whatever it is you're making? I mean, the offer to teach me how to cook still stands right?" He didn't want Mark to have to always be the one that cooks, and it would be useful to know if he ever did stop living with him for some reason.

"Oh sure! Of course the offer still stands," Mark smiled at him. He took an egg out of the carton and handed it to him. "I imagine you don't know how to crack open an egg, so we'll start there. So you're going to take the egg," he picked up his own, "and tap it against the edge of the counter till it cracks." He gently tapped it twice and showed it to him, pointing at it. "See how the shell's cracked but not giving up the egg yet? This is where we'll gently press in our thumbs and open the egg up." He did just that, opening the egg over the bowl. "Now you try."

Jack watched his demonstration carefully, taking note of what all he did. "Okay, seems easy enough." He took his egg and tapped it on the counter till it looked cracked enough and held it over the bowl. He pressed into the cracks with his fingers and pulled the shell open, letting the contents fall in the bowl. He smiled, it looked like he did pretty good.

"Very good!" Mark smiled at him, "We'll need four more eggs. Want to do that while I explain the rest?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I can do that!" He took another egg from the carton and repeated what he did with the first one. He continued to repeat that with the next three eggs.

While Jack did that, Mark explained buttering the pan and the best heat setting to have the burner set to for cooking an omelette. "Now while that heats up, we're going to beat these eggs till it's all blended together, and add a little salt and pepper. Now we can add some diced veggies or meat into this. I've got some ham here, and some bell peppers, and the cheese we'll add while it's in the pan. You can add almost anything into an omelette while you cook, which makes for a nice breakfast." While he talked, he cut each item on a plate so they could add it in. "Feel like trying some bell peppers in it? They're pretty mild and sweet tasting, and help add a little flavor."

"Yeah, I'll try some bell peppers."

Mark nodded and beat in some bell pepper pieces, along with chopped pieces of ham. "Now we pour this into the pan," he poured half of it in, "And let it cook for a bit till most of it is pretty solid. While it does that, we'll add cheese." He let the egg cook a while, adding cheese on it once it was starting to solidify some. "And now that we're this close, we're going to take our spatula," he slipped it under one side of the egg, "and fold it." Mark folded the egg in half. "Then we cook for another minute or two on each side, and it's done."

"Huh, omelettes aren't that hard to make. Thanks for showing me how to make em. Maybe I can try making some myself later on." It smelled great so far, Jack couldn't wait to try one.

"Want to try making mine?" Mark asked, flipping the one in the pan over. "I figured you can eat this one, and then try making one for me."

"Sure. That'll work. How long till this one's done?" Jack made a mental note of how Mark did everything so he would know what to do when it was his turn.

"Should be..." Mark checked it with a fork and smiled. "Done!" He scooped it up with the spatula and put it on a separate plate. "Give it a shot," he handed him the spatula.

Jack smiled and took the spatula from him. He poured the rest of the liquid egg into the pan, doing the same as Mark and waiting for it to solidify a little before sprinkling on cheese. Once it cooked a little more he folded it over, careful not to tear it or fold it over too far.

Mark kept an eye on him here and there while he got them something to drink. "You're doing great, Jack. Not too hard, is it?"

Jack shook his head. "Nope, it's pretty simple. I don't think I could have picked an easier thing to learn how to make." After another few minutes it was done. He scooped it up and set it on a plate for Mark. "All done. Did I do good? It's not under or over cooked is it?"

Mark looked it over. "It looks perfect," he smiled. "Good enough to eat!" He chuckled and brought their plates to the table.

Jack grabbed them both a fork and moved over to the table. "Hey Mark, would it be okay if I watched some of your videos later? I wanna watch a few for ideas on some games I can play," He asked after he sat down.

"Yeah, sure! You can get on my personal computer while I record in my studio space, if you'd like." Mark took a fork and cut himself a bite.

"That'll be fine." Jack started cutting his own omelette, skewering a piece on his fork once it was all cut up. He ate it and smiled, it was pretty good. Hopefully Mark would like his.

Mark ate his bite and smiled at him. It was perfect. "If it helps, I have a section that's all playlists of games I've done. That way if you see a title that's interesting, you can get a good look at the game beforehand." He took another bite.

"Yeah, that'll definitely help," Jack said. Judging from Mark's reaction the omelette must be decent. He continued eating. As he was finishing up his food, he noticed some movement outside. A little squirrel was walking on the patio. Aw, what a cute little guy. Hmm, squirrels like nuts right? He recalled seeing a can of peanuts in one of the cupboards. He got to his feet and went over to the cupboard, grabbing the can and picking out a small handful before going outside.

Mark watched him carefully as he got up and grabbed some nuts. What was he up to? He sat back and observed him, watching him head outside.

Jack moved slowly, not wanting to scare it off. When he was as close as he dared to get he knelt down and held out the hand that was holding the nuts. It looked at him quizzically, scenting the air. He started humming softly, hoping to put the small creature at ease. It's little ears twitched and it cautiously approached. It looked up at him and tilted it's head curiously before tentatively taking a peanut from his hand.

He turned his chair and noticed a squirrel sitting on the patio. He was surprised to see that Jack could get the squirrel to come up to him at all.

Jack chuckled when the squirrel quickly grabbed several more peanuts after finishing the first one. He continued humming, quite enjoying the presence of an animal that didn't think he was out to get them. When it finished the peanuts off it sniffed at him again and, to his surprise, crawled up his arm and onto his shoulder. He stayed still when it did, not wanting to scare it off. It pawed at his green hair and climbed on top of his head, sitting there for a minute with it's tail twitching now and then as it inspected his green locks curiously. Eventually it grew bored and hopped down, scampering off to who knows where.

"What are you, a Disney princess?" Mark chuckled. That squirrel had had no problems climbing on him. It was so odd... and kinda cool.

"You realize I have no idea what you're referring to, right? Anyway, I think it's cause I'm a siren, our natural charm can work on animals too. Well, except for pets, as you saw with Chica. Regular animals don't feel the need to protect people from creatures like me the way pets do." Jack stood up and fixed his hair since the squirrel had ruffled it into a fuzzy mess.

Mark chuckled. "Typically, princesses in Disney movies have an affinity with animals. They flock to them, often while they're singing. You just reminded me of one, is all."

"Ooh. Okay, I get it now. I can definitely see the comparison then, especially since you already compared me to Rapunzel."

"Rapunzel, the Little Mermaid, you'd fit very well into the Disney universe. Still! Why a squirrel? I'm supposed to be KING of the squirrels, and yet they run from me!" Mark chuckled, "Damn traitors."

"Uh oh, did I accidentally steal another throne? Forgive me sire, I did not mean to take yet another crown from you," Jack said jokingly, laughing a little, "Heheh, guess you can call me the Prince of squirrels."

Mark narrowed his eyes at him playfully. "...I think I can live with that." He chuckled. "I should get to recording. Feel free to get on my laptop or go for a swim. Whatever you want to do."

"As tempting as swimming sounds, I kinda wanna stay out of the water today, get some energy back since going in twice really drained me yesterday. So laptop it is." Plus, Jack could swim whenever he wants now, so there was no rush.

Mark smiled. "I'll leave you to it then." He called Chica back inside and gave her food and water. "If you need anything, you know where to find me." With that, he headed upstairs to wash his face before heading into the studio to record.

Jack nodded before going inside as well. He went upstairs and got Mark's laptop, taking it into his room and sitting down on his bed to look through Mark's videos. He slipped a pair of headphones on before proceeding to watch a couple different videos. After watching a couple he came across an unusual looking one. World's Quietest Let's Play 4? What was that? Curious, he clicked on it.

< Hello everybody.. My name is Markiplier, and welcome back... to another world's...> Mark in the video said, his voice low and gravely, <...quietest.. let's play. Now you may all know my personal history with 'I Am Bread', it is a game that deserves to be flayed alive on the sacrificial altar.>

**^^^^**

**Jack stiffened at the way Mark's voice sounded, rather surprised. Whatever he was expecting from this video, it wasn't that. The deep, gravely tone drew him in and he found himself getting lost in Mark's voice as he watched, leaning closer to the screen. There was an odd feeling building in him as he listened, one he wasn't used to. It wasn't bad, but it left him confused. <I won't break you unless you deserve to be broken. Same goes for all of you.> Jack felt his jeans grow uncomfortably tight at those words. He quickly paused the video and glanced down at himself, wondering what the hell was going on. His eyes widened at the sight of a very noticeable bulge in the crotch of his pants.**

**Jack hesitantly touched the bulge in his pants, a small gasp escaping him at the feeling that brief touch sent through him. It's currently erect position made his cock sensitive. He was extremely confused now, face flushed with embarrassment. Why the fuck was it doing that? He needed to figure out how to get it to relax again, what if Mark walked in on him? A tiny part of him liked the thought of that and he covered his face with his hands at the confusing image that popped in his head, his blush deepening and his dick twitching in response.**

**Jack took some deep breaths to try and calm himself down. Okay, how to fix this, hoooow to fix this. He needed to think, there had to be a way to get it to go down again. He also didn't want to risk Mark coming in while he dealt with this. Hmm, maybe he'd think a bit clearer if he took a shower? He didn't want to change while this was going on but some warm water might clear his head, so a shower would be good.**

**^^^^**

Meanwhile, in his studio, Mark was recording another episode of the 'Try Not To Laugh Challenge', and so far he was doing well. "Nope... mm-mm, not funny. Not even a giggle." At least till a video of a dog doing something unexpected and cute came up. He was holding back laughter at this point and his chest was starting to hurt from the effort. "N-NOPE! I WILL NOT BREAK!"

Mark burst into laughter at the start of the next video, already knowing he'd lost this one. "Oh man... I'm such a giggly bitch... Alright, well I obviously lost that one. So thanks everybody so much for watching, and I will see you... in the next video. Buh-bye!~" Mark waved to the camera and gave it a few seconds before stopping the recording. "Aaaand I need water." He took off his headset and stretched, heading out of the studio to take a short break between videos.

Mark made to head downstairs but stopped himself. Maybe he should ask Jack if he wanted a drink. He went over to Jack's room and knocked on the door. "Hey, I'm getting something to drink. Want anything?"

Jack jumped a little when Mark knocked on the door, not expecting it. Thank god he didn't come in. "I'm good. Think I'm gonna get a shower, is that okay? Ya need to go to the bathroom or anything before I do?" He said, trying his best to sound casual and not like he was mentally freaking out.

"That's fine. I should be good for a while. Help yourself to it!" Mark smiled and headed downstairs, greeting Chica with a quick fur ruffling.

**^^^^**

**Jack waited till Mark was downstairs before getting up and and sneaking out of his room, covering his crotch with his hand in case Mark came back up while he was heading for the bathroom. He slipped inside and immediately locked the door, relaxing a little once it was. He took a deep, calming breath before he started getting undressed. He was unnerved at the sight of his penis being angled upwards the way it was, and he noticed a spot of sticky, clear fluid in the back of his boxers. He at least knew what that was, though he wasn't sure why he had produced it now. That just left him even more confused. He turned on the shower and slipped inside once the water had warmed up.**

**^^^^**

Mark played with Chica a little bit before grabbing himself a bottle of water from the fridge and heading back upstairs. Since he was taking a small break between recordings, he went ahead and started editing the sushi challenge video. There was a lot that just needed outright removed and deleted, since it was empty space. There was even more that needed cut, but he instead compiled it as it's own video file; all of the bits from the moment Jack fell in the pool to letting his tail dry so they could get back to filming. It was interesting to watch it change again from a slight distance, seeing his scales slowly disappear and his tail fin split into feet. It still surprised him to see. It was a little hard to believe this was all real.

Once Mark was done editing that one, he set to work quickly editing the other video. It didn't take long to do and he immediately set it to upload while he figured out his next game to play.

**^^^^**

**Jack stood silently under the warm water, his eyes closed and his forehead resting against the cool tile wall. He thought over everything in his head, trying to arrange the jumbled mess into something coherent. Maybe if he figured out what caused it, he could figure out how to fix it. What happened before it got hard and stuck up like that? He went over the video in his mind, thinking over how the sound of Mark's voice had made him feel, how his body reacted to that last phrase. Just imagining it in his head sent an involuntary shudder through him, his dick twitching again in seeming anticipation. Christ, did he like Mark? Was that why his body was acting like this? If so, would things settle down down there on their own now that he wasn't watching that video anymore?**

**Jack ran a hand through his wet hair, resting his hand on the back of his neck as he released a long breath. He tried to push the video out of his mind, focusing on the feeling of the warm water running down his body. He could figure that all out after he had gone flaccid again. He rubbed his eyes for a brief moment before letting his hand slide down off of his face. Just don't think about it. He slumped against the wall, standing in the corner of the shower, resting his head on the wall again. His eyes were still closed, just letting the water run over him.**

**^^^^**

After a bit, Mark started to worry. He could still hear the water running in the bathroom and it had been doing so for quite a while. "I hope he's okay... should I check on him maybe?"

**^^^^**

**Jack shook his head when he realized he had spaced out. How long had he been in here? He really needed to stop getting inside his own head while in the bathroom. At least his dick had stopped standing at attention at some point while he was in La La Land, which he was relieved to note. It would probably be a good idea to get out now, since he had lost track of how long it had been.**

**^^^^**

Mark knocked on the door, having left his studio to check on him. "Jack?... Are you okay? You've been in there a long time."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just kinda spaced out for a bit there. I need to stop using the bathroom as my thinking place," Jack answered, chuckling a little towards the end, "I'll be out in a minute." He turned the shower off and stepped out, grabbing a towel so he could dry off. He started with his hair first since otherwise what was in his hair would just drip on him and get him wet again.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it." Mark stepped away from the door and went back into his studio to record again. He still had to record one more for the day, and then it would be Jack's turn.

Jack finished drying off and got dressed. His hair had a fluffy, ruffled look to it from drying it and he didn't really feel like brushing it out so he left the bathroom, heading back to his room. He closed the tab for the 'World's Quietest Let's Play' video, having no intention to finish watching it after what had happened. He bit his lip in thought, did he really like Mark? He had never liked anyone before so he didn't have anything to compare to in order to know for sure. He didn't even know if he liked guys, not that he had anything against it, same sex relationships were a normal thing for merfolk, especially sirens considering the... condition some males had, that he had. Hell, did Mark like guys? It would be so awkward if it turned out he did like Mark and Mark wasn't even interested in men. He sighed, this was all just one big mess.

Mark set to work recording another video of 'Oxygen Not Included', mainly just seeing how far he could get today. For him the game was very relaxing and enjoyable to play. He often played it in his off hours just for fun, not even minding having to start over since the environment changed a bit each time he started a new save file. He did occasionally get lost in his thoughts, though, if he stayed quiet too long. And lately all that was on his mind was a certain merman that he'd heard retreat back to his bedroom.

As far as Mark could tell, based on yesterday, a siren's powers only last for so long on their... should he call it a victim?... unless they use them continuously. Considering Jack had little to no control over it anymore, he knows he's not "under his spell," so to speak... so why did he keep having these feelings when he looked at him? It wasn't like he hadn't noticed his own heart race a little, or the two very clear times yesterday in the pool that he'd almost kissed him. Did... did he maybe... like Jack? He shook the thought for now so he could focus on the game again. Don't worry about that now. Finish recording first.

Wanting to take his mind off things, Jack started looking through music on Youtube, humming along with any that he liked. He could always count on singing and music in general to help him feel better about things. He closed his eyes as he listened to a particularly pretty, calming song, letting the music wash over him as he hummed softly. He had a peaceful smile on his face as he did so, enjoying himself. He'd try and find answers about his little incident later.

Once Mark was finished, he sent that one off to one of his editors with notes on what to cut from it. With that done, he stretched and stepped out of his studio. Jack should know he was finished so he could record. He made his way down to his room and knocked on Jack's door, waiting for a reply.

Jack glanced at the door when he faintly heard the sound of knocking over the music he was listening to. He paused it and took his headphones off. "Yeah? What is it?" He answered. Was it his turn to record now?

Mark cracked the door open so he could hear him okay. "I just finished up. If you're ready to record, it's all yours."

Jack nodded, "Yeah, I'm good to go. I know exactly what games to do too." 'The Forest' looked interesting and, despite not seeing much of it due to his little problem, 'I Am Bread' looked like it might be fun purely for potential raging purposes. He got to his feet, stretching for a moment.

Mark chuckled. "Glad to hear it. While you do that, I'll start lunch. Or order it, whatever you prefer." He had Chinese takeout in mind, but if Jack wanted something specific, it was better to ask.

Jack shrugged, "I'm good with whatever, I ain't picky. You still got 'I Am Bread' and 'The Forest' on your computer? Those are what I wanted to play today." He figured it would be a good idea to make sure he still had those games just in case he didn't for some reason.

"Yeah, I've still got those. Let me show you where they're at." Mark smiled at him, "Gotta warn you though, 'I Am Bread' is raaaage inducing."

"Great. Lead on good sir. And I don't get legitimately angry very easily, so I think I'll be okay. And if I do, I'll just stop playing and cool off for a bit," Jack said, joking a little at the beginning.

Mark chuckled, "Follow me, follow me~" He said in a butler like voice, leading the way to his studio. "We'll see. That game infuriates me beyond belief. I swear that game belongs in the fiery pits of hell." He opened up his list of games and showed him where they were. "You just get on here, go to library, and the games are listed in alphabetical order."

Jack followed him to the studio, looking over the list when Mark showed it to him. "You act like that game committed a terrible crime against you," he said, chuckling, "Anyway, thanks for the help Mark. I'm good now so, unless you want to watch, your free to go do whatever now."

Mark chuckled. "I don't think you need supervision. Have fun. If you need help, I'm in the kitchen." He smiled at him and headed downstairs.

He hadn't even been thinking about supervision, he just thought maybe Mark would want to watch since he seemed to enjoy watching him play when they did the FNAF thing and when he first introduced him to video games. Not to mention to see Jack struggle with the game that enraged him so much. Jack got everything set up before hitting record. "3. 2. 1," He said, and clapped so he would have a reference to sinc things up. He high-fived at the camera and started up the intro he had come up with. "*whapoosh* TOP OF THE MORNING TO YA LADDIES! My name is Jacksepticeye and welcome to a game called I Am Bread! You probably heard of it at this point since it's been around a while and Mark has already played it, but it looks like a ton of fun. You play as a slice of bread, you run around a kitchen, what's not to love? So let's just get in and play. Okie smokey I am ready to go."

Jack read through a paper that appeared on screen, "Client Name: Mr. Murton. Date of Birth: 1948? What the, he's old as balls!" The game started, a piece of bread showing on the screen with words on it before disappearing. "Okay, become toast! Ah sweet jesus, how do I? Oh I can wibble-wobble," he said, getting the bread to sway from side to side and then fall over. He laughed as the bread started scooching around the table. "I am bread! Well, that is the name of the game. What do I do?" The bread flipped forward. "Oh my god. This is gonna be weird."

Jack flipped the slice of bread forward and it smacked into the jar of jelly, breaking it. His eyes widened and his mouth made an 'O' in surprise. "Oh! I broke the jar. I didn't mean to. I have so many buttons to press!" he said, laughing a little. "Can we get off the table? Get off.. the.. table," he said with effort as he struggled to get the bread to flip forward again. "It said to become toast and my edibility now is a hundred-percent. Which is good cause if you're gonna eat somethin' you want it to be a hundred-percent edible. O-off the table, off the table, yes! I am a slice of bread set free! Scateboard!" he said as he got the bread off the table and landed on the edge of a scateboard.

Jack moved his bread across the floor, a weird noise playing as he did. "Is that the skateboard making noise? Look at me go! Yes! Kay, my edibility is only ninety-percent- oh! You're not allowed to stay on the floor! Shit! Shit! G-fucking get up onto that ironing board! Get up! Get-get up! I don't know the buttons!" he said as he played, his voice getting high-pitched when he said he didn't know the buttons. "No! How do I-yes! Oh-kay we are safe. No. What the fuck is happening?" He broke into laughter over accidentally spinning the bread around and around in a circle as it clung on to the ironing board. "Oh shit, 'kay relax," he said, still giggling a little.

The bread slid down when he ran out of grip. "No! Get up on to the fuckin' iron board! Get up! Swingarooshy, swingarooshy," Jack let out a breath as he got the bread back on the board, "Kay, relax, there we go! I can't remember what buttons you have to let go of!" He started slowly flipping upward on the board. "Ohhkay here we go, we got a system goin'. Yes," He said, chuckling. The grip ran out again, the bread falling. "What are ya falling for?! Okay, we gotta find out where the fuck is this toaster. There, I see a toaster in the distance! Get up on to this counter." He started moving the bread towards the counter, flopping over some muddy boot prints. "No! My edibility is goin' way down. As a slice of bread that's very important to me!"

After looking around the kitchen a while, Mark decided he didn't feel like cooking. Instead, he ordered takeout; it would take 30 minutes to get there, anyway, it meant he needed to find something to do. Although he did want to watch Jack play, he didn't want to interrupt. These videos were for Jack's channel and he wanted him to eventually be doing things on his own. But that still meant he needed to entertain himself somehow. Chica was taking a nap and he didn't have the heart to wake her. "Hmmm... what to do..."

Mark decided to just lay on the rug like he had a couple days ago and think. His mind kept wandering back to the same thing: did he like Jack? It wasn't... impossible. Mark had had a couple different girlfriends over the years, none of which had worked out. Maybe... maybe he liked guys? Jack was a guy, admittedly not really human, but that didn't mean it wasn't possible. Right?

~ _Okay, okay Mark... let's think this through_ ~ Mark settled himself in on the rug, staring up at the ceiling. ~ _If you like Jack, there must be something you find attractive about him right? So let's list some things about him. He's a merman, biggest point to note. He likes video games, music, cheese. He was hurt and alone, but you took him in. He's Irish... Irish merman..._ ~ He had to admit Jack's accent was really attractive. He could listen to him talk all day.

**^^^^**

**Mark shook his head. ~ _Focus! You're making a list. So obviously he has a nice accent, that's one thing. What else though? He has the bluest eyes I've ever seen, that's for sure... which are really pretty to look at... He's got some gray in his hair, but that's not a bad thing. He's about the same age as me, we're only a year apart. His hips are... really nice. And those scales on his face were absolutely beautiful_ ~ Mark closed his eyes, that same image coming to mind. How they'd glow brighter when he blushed. The way they resembled the night sky. And those soft lips... Mark's face flushed bright red as his pants grew a little tighter, his eyes flashing open. "Oh shit..."**

**Mark sat up quickly, trying to get both the feeling of Jack's lips on his and that image of his glowing cheeks out of his head before things got worse, but it was a bit too late. He was hard and now very unsure of what to do. "Fuck... I..." He stared at the obvious lump in his pants. "Maybe... maybe it's just lust?" He shook his head, immediately thinking that was stupid. Since when did he just lust after a person? Never, that's when. No, this was something else. He sighed. Well now what was he supposed to do? He could go up to his room and try to take care of his hard-on, but what if Jack walked in on him? Mark might like him, but there was no telling how Jack would react, not to mention that would be extremely embarrassing.**

**^^^^**

Meanwhile, completely unaware of Mark's predicament, Jack was slowly getting the bread up the side of the counter. His face scrunched up in annoyance when it fell again. "You motherfucking bread!" he said through clenched teeth. He started climbing again and was trying to get it around the the edge. "There we go, around, aroundabouty. Around-a- no? Y-you don't wanna listen to Jack? You don't- What are ya doing ya stupid bread?!" The bread had lost it's grip again and fell. "I think maybe we should just restart this one. This one is not goin' ta plan and I'm all fuzzy now. God damn it. I got an F." He restarted the level and finally noticed the grip meter at the top of the screen. "Oooh, now I know why I kept fallin' off. The grip meter ran out. Okay mister bread. So my grip meter kept runnin' out, that's why I kept fallin' off the things."

Jack struggled to get the bread over a place-mat on the table. "Get up! Over it! I see beans, I would go great with them. Kay, we need to get over there, the far side of the room. I see a toaster, we need to get into that, pop up and become nice and twisty fresh." He flipped off of the table and landed onto the chair and started climbing it, only to fall onto the seat of it. "Aw shit! See, my grip ran out. Okay we'll just go, no wrong buttons. We'll just go down this way." He got the bread to fall from the chair onto the skateboard, which started to move forward. "Who's bringing these muddy footprints in?! Motherfuckers, the nice clean kitchen. I'm tryin' ta be a slice a bread. Why is a slice a bread alive, by the way? I don't understand that but it's the wrong question it's just a game."

Jack climbed up a dishwasher in the game. "I'm getting better. I'm getting better. I am the bread! Ah slice and dice! Okay I don't really know what buttons to press for this part," He was having trouble getting the bread over the edge at the top, "There? There? Yes, y-yes! I made it to the counter! Hey ma! Oh, wait I don't have a ma, I'm a slice of bread." He started moving over the counter and his edibility began to drop. "Why is my edibility going down like really fast?! No! What the- ohhh those are ants or somethin'. I thought that was pepper! Damn it, I'm doing bad now because of the thing, because of the stupid ants." He knocked over the Jenga logs and climbed on top, accidentally spinning and flipping backwards. "That was a sweet flip, I didn't mean to do that though."

**^^^^**

**Mark got up and headed up to his room. He had a little time. If he was quick then maybe he could take care of his 'problem' before the food arrived. A shower would be too obvious and hadn't helped much in the past, anyway. He instead went into his room and locked the door behind him.**

**Mark went over to his bed, undoing his pants, slipping them and his underwear halfway down his thighs as he sat on the edge. "You're just going to quickly get yourself off, wash your hands, and go wait for food. Easy. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezee..." Mark reached over to his end table and rummage through a drawer, pulling out a small bottle of lubricant. He put a little in his hand and set the bottle aside.**

**Mark laid back on the bed and began stroking his hard shaft. He moaned and closed his eyes, Jack's face immediately being the first thing to come to mind. He'd intended on keeping his mind blank and just getting through it, but his body seemed to have other plans. Admittedly though, this time around felt better with someone to think about than before; any time he'd masturbated before taking Jack in, he'd just have to get through it. He hadn't had an interest in anyone since his last girlfriend years before. Not in that way, at least. "Mmnn... fuck~" Mark picked up his pace, rocking his hips up into his hand, imagining Jack in place of it.**

**^^^^**

Jack started climbing up the fridge, accidentally falling but thankfully landing on the door since it had swung open. He unfortunately ended up falling again not long after and lost the last of his edibility, having to start over again. When he got the fridge again he got past it and landed on the dishes by the sink. He commented that he had to be careful not to fall in the water and immediately did, having to restart once again. He managed to get to the shelf above the counter and had a little fun knocking all the wine bottles down before climbing up and messing with a little rocket. It flew off without him and he made his way over to the cupboard closest to where the toaster was and flung the bread across the gap, landing on the counter and making his way to the toaster. He unfortunately knocked it over and got stuck beneath it, having to restart.

When Jack got to the toaster again he messed with the chord, commenting that it wasn't plugged in and started laughing when the chord spazzed out and started wriggling all over the map. This time he got on top of the toaster and slid into a slot, successfully toasting the bread. "Yes! I got a D, I don't care, D is for deadly! D is for delightful, D is for delicious toast! It only took me nine minutes. I'm gonna leave this video here, hopefully i opened up some more levels for the next video. That was fun, it was silly but fun, I don't know why Mark hates this game. But, THANK you guys, so much for watching this video. If you LIKED it, PUNCH that like button in the face, LIKE A BOSS and, high fives all around," He high-fived the air in two different directions, making high-five noises, "But thank you guys and I will see all you dudes IN THE NEXT VIDEO!" He ended the video and stood up to stretch. He wanted to go check and see how lunch was coming before recording another so he headed downstairs. He was surprised to see that Mark wasn't down there. Where did he go? Was he in his room maybe? He went back up, figuring it wouldn't hurt to go check.

**^^^^**

**It was almost too easy to imagine Jack straddling him, bouncing up and down on his hard member as Mark thrust up into his hand, tightening his grip now and again. "Oh, Jack~" he moaned, panting as he stroked himself faster, his imagination presenting him with a near perfect likeness. He wasn't sure if it was wrong to be thinking of him like this or not, but his body didn't seem to care. There was so much pleasure just from thinking about the possibility of being with him. "Fuck~" He was getting close already, he could feel it.**

**^^^^**

As Jack drew near Mark's bedroom, some odd sounds reached his ears. Was that moaning? And had he just heard Mark say his name? What the heck was going on it there? He paused at his door, unsure if he might be interrupting something. He let out a shaky breath and checked the doorknob, finding it locked. Why was his door locked? Hesitantly, he knocked on the door. "Mark? What's with the noises? Is everything okay in there? I went to find you downstairs but you weren't there," he said nervously. He didn't know what was going on but it really felt like he was interrupting something private.

"A-AH!" Mark sat up quickly, his face flushing bright red at the fact that Jack was at the door and had heard him. "U-Uh, yes! Everything's fine. Noises? What noises? Heh-heh..." God this was embarrassing! How much had he heard?

Jack furrowed his brows. There had very obviously been noises coming from in there, why was Mark denying that? And why did he sound so embarrassed? "Are you sure? You're not hurt or anything are you? Don't people moan when in pain?" He didn't mention that he heard Mark say his name.

"N-No, I'm not in pain. They do, b-but that's not... the only reason..." Shit, did he just say too much?

Jack was just even more confused now. "Well, if you're sure you're okay, I'll just... leave you alone then." There was something Mark wasn't saying, but he didn't want to pry and annoy him. He stepped away from the door and went back to the recording room, still needing to record a second video.

**^^^^**

**Mark let out a sigh once Jack walked away from the door. He felt bad for not telling him what was going on, but it wasn't exactly something he was ready to talk about just yet. He removed his hand from his crotch, finding it covered in lube and cum; he'd apparently finished when Jack had popped up by the door. "Well... at least I'm done." Mark got up and pulled his pants up with his clean hand, and unlocked his door, heading quickly over to the bathroom to wash his hands.**

**^^^^**

Jack was a little distracted as he played 'The Forest.' His mind kept wandering back to what he heard and the conversation he had with Mark. What had he been doing in there? Why wouldn't he tell him what had been going on? Did he... do something wrong? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. They barely knew each other, Mark had every right to keep things from him. So why did it hurt that he was? He let out a frustrated sigh, combing his fingers through his hair before returning his attention to the game.

Once Mark had cleaned up and done up his pants, he went down the hall to the studio and knocked on the door. "Hey, do you have a minute?" he asked Jack. Part of him wanted to explain what was going on, but he had no idea how to go about it if he did. How does one explain masturbation to a merman without it getting awkward? Especially depending on how much Jack had heard... what if he'd heard Mark say his name?

Jack paused the game when he heard Mark. "Uh, yeah, hang on for a second," he answered. Was this about earlier? He pulled off his headphones and got to his feet before he went over to the door and opened it. "What do you need to talk about?"

"Well, first off, I just wanted to let you know I ordered out for lunch. It should actually be here soon," Mark started, still debating whether he should tell Jack what he was up to.

"Oh, okay. I'm sure I'll like whatever you ordered. Is there anything else? You look like you have something on your mind." Jack wouldn't push it if Mark didn't want to talk about whatever it was though.

"Well... I do, actually. I'm just not sure if I should say. I mean, you deserve to know, but it's just a little embarrassing depending on what all you heard..." Mark was rambling a little, he knew that, but still.

"If it really makes you that uncomfortable to talk about it I'm not gonna push you into telling me. I'm less concerned with what you were doing than I am about you being comfortable enough to talk to me about things." Jack didn't want to mess things up between them, but it would be nice if they eventually got to the point where they could be completely open with each other, as hypocritical as that was since he hadn't been able to tell him about his own problem earlier.

Mark hesitated before nodding. "Thanks, Jack," he smiled at him. "I'll let you get back to recording. When food gets here, I'll come get you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Links:
> 
>  
> 
> [Reference for Jack's siren features](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/post/165908642301/ref-for-sirenjacks-tail-and-arm-fins-decided)
> 
> [Fan Art made by my co-author Silvererros](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/175294391058/a-sirens-kiss-with-and-without-glow-just)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's tailfin shape](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/159595842823/more-fanfiction-fanart-i-keep-running-into)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's genitalia in merman form](http://silvererros18andover.tumblr.com/post/174135603375/its-mermay-bring-on-the-lovin-dark-and-jack)
> 
> [Spotify Playlist for this story](https://open.spotify.com/user/8q0elo21l6iicpg6uq4vhr9nd/playlist/6YzyDiC867sxq9uGuMEfPp?si=JallrKXUTrOcGCclrWC-Vw)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to think I should change the update schedule for this to every two to three weeks instead of one. ~Fox

Excitement practically oozed from Jack's pores as he headed downstairs the next morning. They were gonna head to the beach after breakfast and come back sometime after lunch if things went okay. He couldn't wait to go, it had been so long since he was in the ocean and he was eager to get back to it for a little while. He was so happy Mark was taking him.

Mark chuckled as Jack practically darted into the kitchen. "Feeling up for some pancakes? Maybe some bacon with that?" He really wanted today to go well for him. It had been a while since he'd been in the ocean.

"Sure, sounds great! Those pancakes you made the other day were awesome!" Jack felt like a ball of energy this morning, ready to take on anything. Today was gonna great, he was sure of it.

Mark chuckled and grabbed out a pan. "Pancakes and bacon, coming right up! How about you help me this time? They're pretty simple."

"Yeah, that'll be fun. What all do I gotta do?" Jack walked over, more curious about how to make pancakes than bacon. Pancakes were fuckin' delicious.

Mark chuckled. "Not surprised you want to learn how to make the sweeter stuff. Well, I like making them from scratch, so," He grabbed out his cook book from the cabinet next to the stove and opened it up to the breakfast section, "We'll need to gather the ingredients. And then take it from there."

Jack nodded, looking over the ingredients. "All-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, eggs, optional vanilla and vegetable oil," He read out, "You do have all that right?" He definitely wanted vanilla in it if it was what he thought it was.

"Yeah, I do." Mark grabbed out what they needed and set them on the counter. "I also have a bag of chocolate chips somewhere..." He kept looking in the cabinets till he found what he was looking for. "Ah! Here they are." He pulled out a bag and showed it to him.

Jack stared at the bag, his head tilted a little. "Am I supposed to be excited that you're adding those? 'Cause I've never had chocolate before, so I don't exactly have a reason to be excited about them being put in." He had heard good things about chocolate though, so he was curious to try it.

"Want to try a little, first?" Mark opened the bag and poured a few into his hand.

"Yeah, I'd love to try some." Jack was unsure if he was supposed to take some from Mark's hand or hold his hand out so Mark could pour some in his. Figuring Mark would say something if he got it wrong, he took a couple from Mark's hand.

Mark simply smiled and picked up a couple himself, tossing them in his own mouth and chewing.

Jack popped in the ones he had taken. His eyes went wide for a second before a dreamy look crossed his face in reaction to the taste. Sooooo good~

Mark chuckled at his reaction. "Found another favorite?"

Jack nodded, not wanting to say anything while he was savoring the taste. After a minute he said, "Oh I definitely want that in the pancakes now. Screw regular pancakes! Chocolate is fuckin' awesome!"

Mark laughed, "Well then, we'll add them into the batter. Let's mix it up, first, and then we'll add them."

Jack grinned. "Great! Will I be in charge of breaking the eggs again?"

"I was actually thinking I could put you in charge of the pancakes altogether. Mixing the batter is pretty simple. Just follow the instructions. The measuring cups are labeled, so it should be easy." Mark smiled at him, "And then I could show you how to cook them with the first one of the batch. That way, the bacon should be done around the same time and we can eat sooner. If you're up for it that is."

"Yeah, I'm definitely up for that. So you'll be working on the bacon then while I get the batter ready?" Jack was definitely willing to try his hands at making pancakes. Mark made it sound like they wouldn't be all that hard to make.

"Yeah," Mark smiled at him, "Just let me know when you're done with the batter. And if you have any questions at all, just ask."

Jack nodded, "Okay. I'll be sure to." He looked over the instructions and got started, they seemed simple enough. He carefully measured out all the dry ingredients and mixed them together in a bowl. He poured in the amount of milk that was required and started stirring it up before adding two eggs, the oil and a little bit of vanilla. He whisked it all together as instructed. "It's ready for the chocolate chips now."

Mark already had two pans heating up and bacon cooking in one of them. "Alright, go ahead and mix them in. We should only need half the bag, since it's just the two of us."

"Kay." Jack poured in half the bag and stirred it up till it looked like the chips were evenly distributed in the batter. He brought the bowl over to the empty pan. "Batter's ready now. Should I start pouring some on or are you going to?"

Mark chuckled. "I'll pour the first one. They don't take too long to cook." He took the bowl and poured in some of the batter, setting it aside. "So these are pretty easy. You let them cook in the pan, no stirring needed. You'll see little air bubbles start popping on the top while it cooks. See?" He pointed at some bubbles that were already forming and popping in the cooking batter. "Right now the batter looks wet, but as it cooks it'll start looking a little dryer, especially around the edges. Once those edges start firming up and there's not really any new bubbles, then we check that it's golden brown and flip it over to cook the other side."

Jack payed close attention to everything he said and committed it all to memory. "How long does it typically take for one side to finish cooking?" He asked, staring at the pancake in anticipation.

"A few minutes for one side, a couple for the other. They're pretty quick to make." Mark flipped the bacon over while they waited and came back to check. "Ah, see how it looks now?" He pointed at it, showing him how the bubbles had stopped and the edges looked firm. "We can flip it, now."

Jack nodded and grabbed the spatula, slipping it under the pancake and flipping it over. It looked so good already, he couldn't wait for them all to be done so they could eat.

"There you go!" Mark chuckled, "So a couple minutes on that side and then you can set it on a plate to start another. Speaking of." He quickly grabbed a plate and set it on the counter next to Jack, "There you go. We'll be eating in no time!"

"Good, 'cause I can't wait to eat these," Jack said, grinning. After a few minutes he checked the pancake and put it on the plate when he saw it was done. He poured more of the batter into the pan to get another pancake started.

Mark chuckled and watched him while he waited for the bacon. He was really enjoying showing Jack how to cook and cooking along side him. Hell, cooking for someone rather than just for himself was nice. The rare times he had people over, they usually just ordered food out. Mark was sure he'd miss this when Jack moved out... although to be fair, he kind of didn't want him to leave.

Eventually, all the batter was used up and the pancakes were finished. Thankfully, none of them got burned or under-cooked. "Pancakes are all done. How's the bacon coming along?" Jack asked, glancing over at Mark as he set the last pancake on the plate. It was a lot of fun learning how to cook with Mark, he was definitely looking forward to the next thing Mark taught him to make.

"All done!" Mark put the last of the bacon over on his own plate and turned off the heat. "Nice work," He smiled and offered Jack a high five, "Ready to eat?"

Jack high-fived him when he saw Mark had his hand raised for one. "Of course I'm ready to eat! Why else would I have just slaved away over a hot pan?" He said jokingly. In all seriousness he was absolutely ready to have some breakfast.

"Let's put these on the table, grab a drink, and dig in!" Mark chuckled and set the bacon on the table and went to grab them drinks.

While Mark did that, Jack set the pancakes on the table and grabbed them both a plate and some silverware. He went ahead and got some pancakes and bacon on his plate while he waited on Mark.

Mark poured them both drinks and set Jack's in front of him, sitting in his own chair and stacking food on his plate. He also set the syrup on the table and smiled at him. "Let's eat!"

Jack grinned, taking the syrup and pouring some on his pancakes before doing just that. Mother of balls, chocolate chip pancakes were the best! He'd never be able to go back to regular pancakes now, no way.

Mark chuckled at Jack's reaction. Obviously he had a new favorite.

After a little while, Jack had finished eating. He heaved a content sigh. Best. Breakfast. Ever. Definitely a great start for the day, hopefully things would stay great. He'd hate for their beach trip to be ruined.

Mark gathered up the plates and set them in the sink. "So, ready to go to the beach? Or do you need a moment to breathe?" He chuckled.

"I was born ready for the beach! Breathing, like sleep, is for the weak!" Jack said excitedly. He was so ready to be in the ocean again, even if it it was only for an hour or two. He could practically hear the salt water calling his name.

"Well then, throw on your shoes and let's get going!" Mark grabbed a cooler off the counter and whistled to Chica. "Chica! Let's go for a ride!"

Chica ran in panting happily, doing her best to ignore Jack's presence for now.

 

\----------------------------------------------------

 

Jack's leg was bouncing up and down in excitement as Mark pulled into the parking lot of the beach. The lot was completely empty, so no one but them was here. He was probably more happy to be here then Chica was. He was so ready to get in the water.

Mark put the car in park and turned it off. He stepped out and opened the back door, grabbing Chica's leash and coaxing her out. He grabbed the cooler and locked the car. "Now be careful on the way down. Don't want you to slip and fall before you get to the water."

Jack got out and nodded. "Alright, I'll be careful." Although that was annoying since being careful would mean taking longer to get to the water. He really wanted to hurry up and get in so he could have some fun.

"Let's go Chica!" Mark gave her leash a small tug and began the walk along the path, Chica following close behind. Most of the beach was blocked from view by tall grasses, but the sound of the waves on the sand were hard to miss as they drew closer. The beach was partially surrounded by large rocks, allowing for some privacy while Jack was in the water. Once their feet hit the sand, Mark let Chica loose to run. She wouldn't go very far. "Whenever you're ready, hop on in," He smiled at Jack and picked out a spot in the sand to set their stuff.

Jack's face lit up in a bright grin when he saw the water. The rocks jutted out into the water far enough that it would be deep there, perfect for diving in. Eager to get in, he went ahead and stripped down to his boxers, which he would take off at the rocks so Mark wouldn't have to look away as long. He set his clothes down at the spot Mark picked and hugged him tightly, murmuring a thank you before heading over to the rocks. Once he was at the edge of the rocks he removed his boxers and jumped in.

Mark blushed brightly and chuckled as Jack ran off to jump in. Obviously he was extremely happy to be here.

About a minute later Jack leapt out of the water with a happy shout, making a loud splash when he reentered the water again. God did he miss this. Being in the tub and the pool really couldn't compare. The ocean was home, it felt right.

Mark chuckled as he watched him. "C'mon Chica, let's go sit on the rocks and watch."

Chica whimpered. She didn't want to watch, she just wanted to play.

"Alright, alright. Stay here then. I'm going to get myself a good seat." Mark ruffled her fur a little and started heading over to the rocks, climbing up them to he could watch Jack from above.

Jack zipped around through the water happily, doing little tricks now and then. It felt so good to be back, he wished he wouldn't have to leave, but it just wasn't safe for him to live in the ocean alone. Plus, merfolk were extremely social creatures, and the loneliness he had felt before coming on land had been soul-crushing. He couldn't do that again. There was also the fact that... he didn't want to leave Mark.

Mark made his way up to the top of the rocks, walking along them slowly as he watched Jack swim. Man was he agile! He couldn't stop watching him. If only the ocean didn't terrify him so much, he'd be more than happy to get in and swim with Jack.

Jack paused for a moment as he treaded water at the surface, his pointed ears twitching slightly when they caught the telltale clicking and squeaking of dolphins somewhere in the distance, the sound distracting him. Dolphins were good friends to merfolk, they helped each other out when needed and were just fun to race and play with. It had been awhile since he last ran into any. He had actually stuck with a few pods of them through part of his journey to L.A.

Chica was playing in the wet sand, chasing the occasional small crab and digging after them.

Mark had stopped paying attention to his footing as he walked along the rocks, watching Jack swim. Just as some splashing in the distance caught his eye, his foot slipped. "W-Whoa!" As Mark tried to over correct his footing, he fell backwards into the water.

Chica's head shot up. Had her master called? ...where was he? She looked around frantically for him. He'd just been on the rocks.

After a moment Jack took his attention away from the dolphins and looked back at the rocks. Wait, hadn't Mark just been there? Where did he go? He couldn't see him anywhere on the beach. He remembered Mark's warning from earlier and his eyes widened. Did Mark slip and fall in? Shit! He submerged and started swimming for the rocks, soon spotting Mark. He wasn't moving. Had he hit his head on the rocks and got knocked out? Oh no, he could drown! He sped over to him and grabbed hold of his unconscious form, surfacing and swimming for shore.

Chica barked and whimpered as Jack surfaced with Mark, swimming back to the beach.

Pulling Mark ashore was difficult, having to hold onto him with one arm and dragging them both across the sand with the other. Once they were far enough up the beach that he didn't have to worry about the tide splashing over Mark he stopped, breathing heavily from the effort of dragging both his weight and Mark's. Worriedly, he checked over him to see if he was okay. He felt a knot forming on the back of his head so the theory that Mark hit his head was right. Luckily he couldn't feel any sort of laceration. He was busy pressing an ear to his chest to see if he was breathing when he heard a shout.

Jack looked up in surprise to see two surfers that must have just come to the beach for some morning waves. They had dropped their boards in the sand and were running over. Everything in him screamed to get back in the water and flee, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't just leave Mark. He clung onto him when they reached them, bearing his teeth defensively and growling. They completely ignored the unconscious Mark and the fangs Jack was sporting, grabbing him by the arms and exclaiming how they would be rich for finding him. Jack struggled in their grip as they started dragging him away. "Let me go! He needs help! MARK!"

Chica ran over, licking at Mark's face and hopping on him, trying to wake him up. She whimpered and whined, glancing back and forth between her master and Jack. Jack had helped him. He'd pulled him out of the water. And now he was being dragged away by two strangers. She hopped on him again, putting all her weight in her front paws.

Mark jerked and rolled onto his stomach, coughing up salt water. "F-Fuck..."

Satisfied that he was awake now, Chica ran off, barking and snarling at the strangers. She bit at one's shorts, tugging on them.

Mark started looking around, confused. What happened? Why did his head hurt? "Jack?" He looked around, looking for Chica and Jack. He heard her bark and looked up. "Oh shit..." What were they doing here? Fuck! Mark stood up, wobbling on his feet a little before running over. "HEY! Leave him alone!"

The one let go of Jack to try and get Chica off, while the other got distracted by Mark. The man's grip was too strong for Jack to yank his arm out his hand, so he did the one thing he could think of to get him to let go. He wriggled in his grasp and sunk his teeth in his leg, biting down hard. Finally, a good use for his fangs. The man yelped and let go of him, reaching down to try and pry Jack from his leg. Unfortunately for him, Jack had a good hold on him. He glared icily, eyes glowing green. "Leave me alone and I'll let go," He managed to say around his mouthful of the man's leg. The man agreed and Jack relinquished his hold on him.

Mark had been trying to help wrestle the last man off when Jack bit him, making him let go.

The man immediately limped over to his buddy and helped him get Chica off before exclaiming the money wasn't worth this shit and they left. Jack spat out the blood that had gotten in his mouth, not liking the taste of it one bit. With them gone and things calm now, the reality of what almost happened hit Jack and he started shaking. Oh god, they were gonna sell him. They were gonna do the same thing those whalers almost did. They didn't even care that Mark, a fellow human being, had needed help. He could feel the beginnings of another panic attack, his breath hitching in his throat.

"Yeah, you better run!" He panted heavily, still recovering from coughing up water.

Chica came trotting over, proudly displaying her prize for fighting off one of the strangers: a nice big chunk of his shorts.

Mark chuckled slightly, the noise a little strangled. "Good girl." He knelt next to Jack, noticing he'd gone very still and wasn't breathing. "Jack? Jack, hey." He placed a hand on Jack's cheek, trying to draw his attention back to reality. "Jack, everything's okay. Come on, Jack.." Mark noticed some blood on Jack's chin and wiped it off for him.

Mark's touch and his words thankfully managed to snap him out it. Jack sucked in a deep breath when he started breathing again, taking a moment before his breathing returned to normal. His eyes locked with Mark's, he could have lost him. The thought made his heart clench in his chest. Fuck, he really did have feelings for him didn't he? He hugged him tightly, needing to reassure himself that they were both okay. His tail had turned back into legs at this point and they curled up against him.

"There you are," Mark hugged him tight, pulling him close. So much had happened in such a brief moment. He could've lost Jack, just then. If those two had gotten away with him... his chest felt tight just thinking about it. "Jack, I'm so sorry... I thought no one would be here..." There was no denying it at this point. He'd developed feelings for a merman, for Jack. He didn't even care that Jack was naked in his arms right now, he just wanted him to feel safe again.

Chica nudged Jack's arm with her nose. She hoped he was okay.

"It's okay, you couldn't have known that they would show up. I'm just glad we're both okay, you could've drowned. How's your head feel? You had a pretty big bump on it." Jack smiled when Chica nudged his arm, releasing the hug so he could pet her head. "Thanks for the help girl, I'm glad you've finally come around. You're a little hero." He finally realized that he was currently naked and his face flushed bright red, a very faint glimmer coming from the scales on his cheeks.

"It hurts, but honestly it's the least of my concerns. Are you okay? I hope they didn't hurt you," Mark asked, looking Jack's face and arms over. "They didn't damage any of your fins when they dragged you, did they?"

Chica panted happily.

Jack shook his head. "I'm fine. Shaken up, but physically I'm fine. Getting dragged through sand wouldn't really do anything. Um, I should... probably get dressed. I don't really wanna be here anymore in case anyone else shows up."

Mark sighed. They hadn't been here very long at all. He'd planned on them having lunch out here, letting him swim as long as he wanted before having to go. That was sadly short lived. "I don't blame you... Chica," He pet Chica's head and made sure she was paying attention, "Go get Jack's clothes. Jack's clothes. Got it?"

Chica sniffed and ran off to grab them.

"Let's hope she actually brings them," Mark chuckled, "Otherwise, either your walking across the beach naked or I'm leaving you here to go get them. Neither option is one I care for at the moment..."

"Yeah, I don't really like either of those options either. The first is just embarrassing and I don't really wanna be by myself right now. So, Chica seems to like me now. I guess it's cuz I kept you from drowning." A thought struck him. He saved the human he cared about from drowning, and said human also protected him. Kinda like Ariel and Serena. He really was a fuckin' Disney princess wasn't he? Jack chuckled a little at the thought.

"Yeah, I guess so. Just needed my life threatened, I guess," Mark chuckled. "Hopefully this isn't fleeting. I don't exactly want to repeat any of this." He had a thought and grinned, "You know, its too bad those guys showed up. Would've been interesting to wake up to see you over me, framed by sunlight, maybe singing to me."

Chica came running back, Jack's pants and shirt dangling from her mouth. She dropped them in front of Mark, her tail wagging.

"Good girl Chica!~" Mark smiled at her and ruffled her fur.

Jack rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Just for that I'll let you drown next time. That's so cheesy and stupid on Ariel's part. If anything you'd have woken up to me giving you CPR." He blushed when he realized that would mean Mark would have woken up to him kissing him technically. He smiled when Chica came back with his clothes. "Thanks Chica! Good job!" He picked them up and got to his feet, getting his pants on first and then his shirt.

Mark covered his eyes to give Jack some privacy... although, admittedly, he might've peeked through his fingers a little. "Hey, CPR's good, too, but don't let me drown!" He chuckled. "Am I allowed to look now, or are you still dressing?"

Chica panted happily, tail swishing.

"Stop with the mermaid jokes and I won't," Jack said, chuckling as well. "Yeah, you're good. Everything's covered up. We just need to go back and grab my shoes and your cooler." He ruffled the fur on Chica's head before scratching her behind the ears. It was nice being able to pet her now. She was so soft.

Chica leaned into his hand. She had to admit, it was kinda nice being pet by a new pair of hands.

Mark stood up. "Alright, well lets go grab them then." He started walking over to the spot where they'd left everything. "I had planned on having lunch out here, but maybe it would be best to go eat somewhere else or just head home."

Jack followed after him, "Home sounds good. After all that excitement I just wanna relax a little." To be honest he just didn't really want to be around other people right now, besides Mark anyway. He might not be showing it but he was pretty shaken up, and he'd just feel safer back home. Home was safe, Mark was safe.

"Totally understandable." Mark picked up everything and glanced back at Jack. "Mind grabbing Chica's leash and walking her to the car?"

"Yeah, I can do that." Jack grabbed her leash and clipped it to her collar. "Come on girl, let's head back to the car. Mark will be right behind us," he said, heading in the direction they had parked.

Chica happily walked with Jack back to the car.

Mark followed up right behind them. Once everything was packed up again in the car, he carefully drove back home.

Jack was quiet during the ride, lost in thought. He liked Mark, how the hell was that going to work? He had no idea if Mark liked guys, let alone if he liked him back. Then there was the matter of what he was. There had been merpeople who got together with humans, but he had never heard of a siren like him getting with one. Since normal merpeople had such similar biology while in human form, conception was possible with humans, but was it something he would have to worry about considering his unusual situation? That would be bad to have happen since human males weren't capable of that. And how would Mark react? Would it freak him out? Would he think less of him because of it?

Once they were back, Mark sighed. He needed a nap after all that. Climbing, almost drowning, and wrestling someone off of Jack had all been exhausting. Not to mention without the adrenaline in his system now, the pain in his head was extremely apparent. He'd have to hope he didn't have a concussion, since Jack wouldn't know how to drive or where to go. He'd take it easy for the rest of the day and see how he feels. "Alright, everybody out and in the house. That was an eventful trip." He hopped out and grabbed the cooler from the back.

Jack got out and opened the door to let Chica out of the back seat, grabbing her leash. He knew he might be overthinking things right now, but they were valid thoughts and he would have to explain his situation eventually. It would be better to try and plan on how to tell him now rather than leaving it to a rushed explanation later should something happen that leads to him having to explain on the spot. After all, he hadn't gone in heat for a while and he was definitely due. It would be extremely embarrassing having to explain during that. While being in heat wasn't ever really all that bad for him, it probably would be now since it had been so long and since he had feelings for Mark.

Mark locked up the car and lead them inside, holding the door for them. Once they were all inside, he took some pain reliever, sat the cooler in the kitchen and promptly returned to the couch, laying himself down. "I'm exhausted.." He sighed, covering his eyes with one arm. "Hey Jack, if you feel like recording anything, feel free. I'm just gonna take a nap for a bit."

"Alright, you get some rest then." Hmm, was he in the mood for recording right now? It'd probably be a good way to get his mind off things. Yeah, he'd do a vlog to get a few thoughts in order and record this one game he saw that looked cool. Subnautica he thinks it was called? It looked like just the game for him, considering it appeared to mostly be in a vast ocean. After recording he'd probably take a shower and maybe take a nap himself. "Hey Chica, wanna hang out with me while I make some videos?"

Chica gave a happy bark in reply.

Mark chuckled and focused on clearing out his mind so he could eventually pass out for a bit.

Jack smiled and headed up to the studio, waiting till Chica came in before shutting the door. Okay, vlog first. For the vlog he ended up talking about his thoughts on Mark letting him be his roommate and introducing him to gaming and Youtube, how even though he had just started he really loved doing Youtube and how reading all the nice things people said never failed to make him smile. He pet Chica every now and then while he talked. After a little bit he ended the recording and got everything pulled up to record Subnautica.

Chica sat next to him the whole time, laying her head in his lap while her tail swished happily against the floor.

Meanwhile, Mark eventually drifted off into a deep sleep.

Jack started up the game and started recording. He watched the intro sequence with fascination. This was definitely gonna be a cool game to play. As he got started he was absolutely fascinated by everything, the plant-life, the creatures. It was so foreign to the ocean he knew and it was so cool. He learned pretty quickly to stay away from the stalkers and to swim away whenever the weird thing with the glowing yellow balls on it's tail 'farted'. He nearly drowned a couple of times due to not paying attention to his oxygen or how deep he was. He gushed a lot over how cool and pretty everything looked.

At one point Jack kept fighting over scrap metal with some stalkers after he made a knife. It was kinda funny just how many times he got his character hurt due to not knowing that something was dangerous and he commented that underwater was a douchebag. Towards the end he said the Peepers were his favorite creature so far and found out he could build a base and a thing to make vehicles. Eventually he made a seaglide and he had a lot of fun zipping around with it. When he finally got a building tool it took him a minute to figure out how to build a base and thought he could connect it to his life pod Henry. He ended the video after he got a small base set up with a fabricator.

Jack stood to stretch for a moment before he got to work editing the two videos. Subnautica was definitely a game he'd play again. It was just too cool not to play again. While he was editing, his thoughts drifted to what Mark said about that one scene with Serena and the priest. More specifically, the idea of whether or not it was possible to turn a human into a merperson. The idea was interesting, especially if humans could be turned into sirens. Siren numbers were dwindling and being able to do that could help keep them from dying out. His pod had been lucky to have more than one.

Eventually Jack was finished editing and he got the videos ready to upload for tomorrow. Now for that shower. He got to his feet and left the studio, making sure Chica was out before he shut the door. He gave her a quick pat before heading into the bathroom. He undressed and paused to check for any bruises on his arms. Those two guys from earlier had had a pretty strong grip. Thankfully it didn't look like any had formed. He turned the shower on and climbed in, a content sigh escaping him as the warm water washed over him. As much as he liked soaking in the tub, a nice, hot shower felt amazing. It was a shame Mark feared the ocean so much, it would have been nice to swim with him when they were at the beach. He had thought about asking him to come in with him before Mark fell, but didn't want to upset him.

Jack bit his lip in thought. Maybe he could help him with his fear. They were friends after all, despite Jack being a creature native to the ocean. And who better to help someone get over a fear of the ocean than a merman, someone who knew the waters like the back of their hand. Yeah, the ocean had it's dangers, but they weren't as drastic as Mark made them out to be. Fear had a tendency to over exaggerate things, especially when there are unknowns involved.

_In his dreams, Mark stirred to the muffled sounds of waves crashing against rocks above him. As he opened his eyes, all he could see was light refracting through water... deep water... ~Ugh, my head...~ He rubbed at the back of his head, finding a bump there in his wet hair. Why was he wet? Why was everything muffled? Why... did he have a tail?_

_Mark furrowed his brow as he studied his scales and fins. How his fins and the webbing between his fingers seemed to fade from purple to a sort of pinkish color. How the deep pink stripes of scales seemed to wrap around him in amongst the deep blue, all the way down to his fin of the same color. He checked his sides and even found striped patches much like Jack's along his ribs. Focused on just himself and his tail, it was all extremely fascinating. Although he did wonder what the hell was going on._

_He wasn't sure how he knew he was being called, but something told him he was. He moved his tail out of the way and looked out into the water. Floating there in the distance a bit was Jack, waving his hand, trying to call him over to him. That was when Mark noticed the sudden drop-off in the water and how dark it looked down there._

_~OH FUCK NO!~ Mark clung to the rock he was leaning up against. Anything could be out there, it could swoop up from underneath him and eat him at any time! And there was no doubt that whatever it was would be huge. He glanced over his shoulder at Jack, who seemed to chuckle. Why was he laughing?! This was not a time to laugh! They could get eaten! Fuck, he could get eaten!_

_He called out to Jack, gesturing for him to come to the rocks where it was safer. Jack seemed to roll his eyes and smile, darting over to him... man was Jack a fast swimmer. Jack's smile was still bright as he grabbed one of Mark's arms and tried to coax him out into the deeper water. Mark shook his head, too afraid to go out there, and closed his eyes. He was still for a moment, till he felt a hand on his cheek._

_Mark turned his head with Jack's hand and felt something very familiar: Jack's lips pressed on his. He couldn't really deny it anymore, he loved this feeling and he did want more of it. Mark was so distracted by the kiss, that he'd barely noticed they'd moved till he opened his eyes. Jack pulled away and smiled at him, holding his hands. His green scales and hair were all aglow, lighting up the dark water around him. Somehow, that image alone seemed to make the ocean feel welcoming, despite his fear._

_Mark reached out a hand to cup Jack's cheek and noticed that the pinkish scales on his arms were glowing now. He looked himself over, the stripes on his tail and the majority of his tail fin were glowing brightly. Jack swished his tail to regain his attention and darted a ways away. He started drawing shapes in the water with the light that trailed behind him, making Mark smile. It was so easy to see the trails down here. With a little extra coaxing, and a quick tap to Mark's shoulder with a grin, Mark was soon chasing Jack through the water._

Jack finished getting washed up and turned the water off, stepping out of the shower. He dried off and got dressed. Now what to do, take a nap like he had considered earlier, or something else? Before doing anything else, he figured he should check on Mark. He had to have hit his head pretty hard to get knocked out, so he wanted to make sure that he really was okay. He left the bathroom and headed downstairs into the living room. Mark was still asleep on the couch and, judging from the small smile on his face, appeared to be having a nice dream. Some of Mark's bangs had fallen across his face and Jack reached out to brush them to the side without really thinking.

Mark smiled a little brighter in his sleep at the light touch.

_The water seemed to get darker and Jack was pointing up towards the surface. Mark was hesitant, but followed him up all the same. The water brightened only slightly, and he barely noticed how close they were till they breached the surface. He wiped the water from his eyes and when he opened them, he gasped. There were so many stars in the sky, more than he'd ever seen before._

Chica trotted up beside Jack and sat next to him. She tilted her head, curious.

Jack looked down at Chica and pet her head. "Just making sure he's okay. Mark hit his head pretty hard today." He stifled a yawn. Maybe he should take a nap. He wasn't normally one for taking naps but he had to admit that one sounded pretty good right now. He went back upstairs, figuring he might as well since he was done with videos for the day and Mark was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is there foreshadowing in this chapter? You'll see ;) ~Fox
> 
> Links:
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> [Reference for Jack's siren features](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/post/165908642301/ref-for-sirenjacks-tail-and-arm-fins-decided)
> 
> [Fan Art made by my co-author Silvererros](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/175294391058/a-sirens-kiss-with-and-without-glow-just)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's tailfin shape](http://silvererros.tumblr.com/post/159595842823/more-fanfiction-fanart-i-keep-running-into)
> 
> [Reference for Jack's genitalia in merman form](http://silvererros18andover.tumblr.com/post/174135603375/its-mermay-bring-on-the-lovin-dark-and-jack)
> 
> [Spotify Playlist for this story](https://open.spotify.com/user/8q0elo21l6iicpg6uq4vhr9nd/playlist/6YzyDiC867sxq9uGuMEfPp?si=JallrKXUTrOcGCclrWC-Vw)
> 
>  
> 
>    
> [My Tumblr](https://narutofoxlover.tumblr.com/)


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry to say, but the next chapter might not be coming till late next month, maybe even February. Having some issues with my mother so I'm not gonna be able to work on the next chapter till things are resolved. ~Fox


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